


the drowsy town files

by teknical_difficulties



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid
Genre: Autistic Paul Matthews, BIG spoilers for episodes 2 and 3 of nightmare time, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, i don't even know what to call this type of fic, little bit of dadgens sprinkled throughout, some chapters are chatfics, some found family stuff later on oooh, there's gonna be WAY more character tags added as the story progresses, this boy gets to fuckin' INFO DUMP babeyyy!, vlogfic??, wiggly rlly said 'oh worm?'
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 38,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28028556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teknical_difficulties/pseuds/teknical_difficulties
Summary: "Em, I'm really not sure about this.""Hey, you wanted a reason to use that camera Bill got you, and we found a reason. So let's just fuckin' do this thing!"I'd gone down some pretty weird rabbit holes during my 3 AM YouTube binges before. But never anything quite like this. When I stumbled across this "eperkins-pmatthews" channel with a playlist filled with odd, cryptically titled videos, I'd expected nothing more than some found footage horror web series that had been tucked away in some obscure corner of YouTube. But what I found instead was the story of a couple in way over their heads, a pair of psychic sisters, the ghost of a social worker witch, and the sinister plan of five otherworldly brothers.And it all happened in some tiny, Nowheresville midwestern town called Hatchetfield, Michigan.
Relationships: Henry Hidgens & Emma Perkins, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 275
Kudos: 97





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> _OH BOY OH BOY, HERE WE FUCKIN' GO, FOLKS_
> 
> This is gonna be my first attempt at a large-scale multi-chapter fic since 100YA. Yeah, remember _that_ trainwreck? Of course you don't, it was terrible and no one read it. Anyways, this is gonna be kind of weird and experimental for me. It could be a mess, but hey, at least I'm getting out of my comfort zone I guess.
> 
> ALSO! I won't be doing this after _every_ chapter, but after certain chapters are posted (this one included), I'm gonna be doing in-character Q&A's for Paul and Emma (and maybe some other characters later on, oooh~) on my tumblr @teknical-difficulties. I'll also be answering questions as myself, if that interests you. I will _not_ be turning anon on for these, because I hate the tumblr anon function a whole lot, but it should be fun!
> 
> But enough of my rambling. On with the first "video".

I had clicked on the first video in this playlist, titled "the drowsy town files", not really knowing what to expect from the vague title of "Introduction". The video's thumbnail image was that of a woman with her brown hair tied into some sort of updo, sitting in what appeared to be a living area. And indeed, once the video began, I was met with a straight-on shot of the woman sitting on a deep blue couch in a dimly-lit living room, a coffee table in front of her. Just from the lighting in the room, I assumed that it was probably evening when she filmed this. She had a stack of five black, flat objects sitting next to her on the couch, and I could just _barely_ hear the light pitter-patter of rain hitting a window from outside. A man's voice spoke up from behind the camera.

"Em, I'm really not sure about this." he said, sounding audibly nervous.

The woman looked off-camera at the man, a soft yet teasing look in her eyes. "Hey, you wanted a reason to use that camera Bill got you, and we found a reason," she retorted, gesturing towards the... _mystery objects_ sitting next to her on the couch. She gave a light smirk before continuing. "So let's just fuckin' _do_ this thing!"

Before the man had a chance to reply, the woman looked straight at the camera with an excited smile on her face. "Hello, YouTube!" she greeted with a small wave. "Uh, my name is Emma, and the disembodied voice behind the camera is my boyfriend, Paul. Why don't you say hey to the audience, Paul?"

"Oh, uh..." the man- Paul apparently, stammered, sounding thoroughly caught off-guard by her request. "H-hey, audience."

With a satisfied nod, Emma looked into the camera once more and proceeded with her spiel. "So, I have a little story for you, viewers at home," she began. "Recently, Paul and I went on a little hiking trip in the nearby Witchwood Forest with my brother-in-law Tom, my nephew Tim, and Tom's girlfriend Becky."

"Er, sorry to interrupt you, babe. But, uh..." Paul suddenly piped up, catching Emma's attention. "Do you _really_ think we should just be... _throwing_ our family's names out there like that? You _did_ say that you wanted these videos to be public, after all..."

"Tom, Tim, and Becky are _stupidly_ common names, Paul," Emma scoffed lightheartedly. "No one's gonna hunt them down just based on their first names."

Personally, I was more interested by the fact that Emma had referred to this Tom as her brother-in-law, but didn't call Becky her sister. Maybe I was thinking too deeply into it, but it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Paul gave a small hum of acknowledgement to Emma's comment, and she continued on.

"Anyways, while we were out hiking, we found this weird..." Emma paused, gesturing around as though she was trying to remember a certain word. She snapped her fingers next to her temples, before getting a sort of look of remembrance in her eyes. " _...plateau_ lookin' thing with a tree in the center of it. Around the plateau were these five _huge_ stones jutting out of the ground. If there are any native Hatchetfielders watching, you may recognize this location as the supposed burial site of one Willabella Muckwab, the fabled Hatchetfield Muck-Witch."

"We didn't think to bring the camera with us, so you'll have to take our word for it." Paul interjected.

"Well, now that you've said that, people are gonna think we're bullshitting them," Emma said, looking at Paul with a playfully irritated look. "It's like making your Twitter handle 'The Real Unspecified Celebrity', it makes you sound like you're the fake unspecified celebrity, y'get what I mean?"

"...What, you mean like Barack Obama?" Paul asked after a beat.

Emma snorted. "Yes, Paul. _Exactly_ like Barack Obama." she replied before shaking her head, presumably to get herself back on track. "Okay, so at this burial site, we found these five freaky stone tablets."

Emma picked up one of the mysterious objects next to her, and presented it to the camera. "On top of these things being _jet fucking black_ , they're also weirdly smooth," she explained, running her hand across the surface of the stone. "Like, y'know how in some museum gift shops you can buy those colorful fake rocks in a pouch, and they sound like marbles when you bump 'em against each other? That's what these things feel like, minus the marble noises."

"But that's not the interesting part," Emma continued, glancing towards the camera with a small, excited smile. "The _really_ cool thing is- Paul, zoom in, the markings on each stone tablet!"

Paul zoomed in closer to the black stone tablet, and indeed, there was a peculiar marking just _barely_ visible smack-dab in the middle of the stone's surface. Two circles with six curved vertical lines just below them. Just below the marking was what appeared to be some faded writing.

"I dunno how well you guys can see that with our shitty lighting, but it's there," Emma muttered. "Each of the five tablets we found has a different marking, _plus_ some writing that we couldn't make out beneath them. So, let's take a look at each one, shall we?"

Paul carefully focused the camera in on the tablet Emma was currently holding up, giving the viewers a _much_ clearer view of the marking. Emma continued. "First one is this Cthulu-lookin' ass motherfucker," she explained ever so eloquently. She set that one down on her right, before picking up another tablet from the stack. This one had a marking somewhat resembling two curved triangles with their bottom ends nearly touching. "Then, there's this one."

"I think this one kinda looks like an eye," Paul chimed in, zooming in just a _little_ closer to the symbol. "If you look at it the right way, that is."

Now that Paul mentioned it, I could _definitely_ see what he meant. It _did_ start to resemble an eye the more I looked at it, albeit a very abstract depiction of one. Emma turned the tablet to look at the marking again. She seemed to consider Paul's suggestion for a moment before setting the stone down on top of the last one with a muttered _'maybe'_. She picked up the third tablet in the pile, displaying it for the camera.

"This one has what I like to call 'The Goat Cube' on it," Emma explained. Looking closer, I could see why she favored that name. Just as it would imply, the marking appeared to depict a cube with horns sprouting from it. She set it down on top of the last two, and retrieved another tablet from the dwindling pile to her left. This one had an oval with three smaller circles inside of it, sort of resembling a face. "And this one, I _think_ is supposed to be a mask of some kind."

"It's actually kinda cute, in an uncanny sort of way." Paul chuckled.

"Babe, what does that even _mean?_ " Emma asked, a bemused smile on her face.

"I dunno, like in the way hairless cats are cute?" Paul attempted to explain, much to Emma's clear amusement.

"Hairless cats _are_ cute, but your explanation makes no sense, hun," she teased, setting the tablet down and picking up the last remaining one.

This one was probably the second or third most abstract symbol of the bunch. It almost looked like a crescent moon trying to... _bend in on itself_. Maybe not the best description, but it was a much more unusual shape than the last four. "I'm not really sure what this one is supposed to look like," Emma said, validating my confusion. "Tom said it looked kind of like a Cheshire Cat smile, but I don't know if I can see it."

Emma set down the final tablet, rubbing the dust from her hands onto her jeans with a satisfied hum. Paul zoomed the camera back out so her entire person was in frame again. "So, you may be wondering what the point of all this was," she began. "Well, I believe these tablets could be related to some... unsolved mystery revolving around Hatchetfield's lore. And Hatchetfield's got _a lot_ of weird-ass lore. Like, enough to warrant having it's own natural history museum. And we wanna see if we can solve it, because why the fuck not."

The couple burst into a fit of laughter before Emma came to the conclusion of her spiel. "And we invite you, the viewing audience, to come along on this little quest with us," she explained, gesturing at the camera. "Tomorrow we're going to be visiting someone who _may_ be able to help us. Hopefully. So uh... _yeah!_ We'll see you then!"

As Emma waved goodbye to the camera, Paul chimed in with one last inquiry. "Y'know, I just realized how weird this probably sounds," he mused. "I mean, we found five stone tablets at the burial site of an evil witch, and just... _decided_ to take them home with us."

Emma smiled at him. "Yeah, we're probably cursed or something," she chuckled, shaking her head as though the thought had just occurred to her as well. "We make fun of horror movie protagonists all the time, but we're really no better."

"I'm sure we're fine, though." Paul said with a mild chuckle.

And with that, the video ended, leaving me with an entire playlist worth of videos to catch up on.


	2. meet my kooky reclusive biology professor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul and Emma visit someone who might be able to help them in their investigation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People seemed to really like the last chapter, so the pressure is officially _on._ Hope y'all enjoy this one!

The next video began inside of a car. The person holding the camera- presumably Paul, was sitting in the passenger seat, pointing it straight ahead towards the windshield. The perspective was shaky, which made sense for a non-mounted camera in a moving vehicle. Outside, I could see that it was a rather dreary and overcast day. The road they were traveling appeared wet, as though it had been raining. And it most likely _was_ , based on the background noise in the last video. The car's windshield even had a few visible streaks on it, as though it had been drizzling some time ago and they'd just turned off the windshield wipers. The surroundings of the road _itself_ looked quite ominous. It seemed to be on the very edge of a dense forest, with towering pines lining each side of the road. It could've been pretty unnerving were it not for the sound of Emma mumble-singing along to the country song playing on the radio. Paul panned the camera over to the driver's seat on the left, showing Emma bobbing her head to the beat of the song as she drove.

 _"-Transmittin' smoke... Oh, you're my every hope~!"_ she sang quietly yet enthusiastically, seemingly unaware that she was currently being recorded. She nonchalantly shot a quick glance at the camera as she continued to sing along. " _She lets me drive, she makes me go. She hugs the ro-_ oh, shit!" Emma exclaimed as she did a double-take towards the camera. She began to laugh, an embarrassed smile spreading across her face. "How long have you been recording for?"

"Long enough to capture your audition for American Idol on camera." Paul replied in a clearly teasing tone of voice.

Emma laughed once more, keeping her eyes firmly glued to the road. "Oh, shut _up!_ It's not my fault that She Lets Me Drive is a jam!" she scoffed playfully before clearing her throat to compose herself and start the intro. "Anyways, uh... Welcome to episode two of... _whatever_ the fuck we're gonna call this show!"

I found this very interesting. I had begun watching these videos about a year after they were uploaded, so the series was _already_ titled "the drowsy town files" when I stumbled across the playlist. But that just begs the question, what _is_ Drowsy Town? Why and _when_ did Paul and Emma decide to name their show after it? And why did it sound so... _familiar?_

"We're currently driving to the house of Henry Hidgens, my biology professor at Hatchetfield Community College," Emma explained, still watching the road intently. "He's into this kinda lore shit, so I figured he'd be the best person to go to for assistance."

"I dunno if calling Hidgens's place a _house_ would be all that accurate," Paul said uncertainly. "It's really more like a mansion."

"I mean, you're not wrong..." Emma huffed in agreement, punctuating her statement with a quick shrug. "But yeah, we've got the stone tablets in the backseat, and we're gonna have Hidgens take a look at them and see what he thinks."

Paul panned the camera to show the backseat, in which sat a large cardboard box that presumably held the tablets inside. Amusingly enough, the box was buckled into the seat, though the strap seemed to _barely_ fit around it.

There was a sudden jump-cut in the video. Presumably to a few minutes later, as the camera was now pointed at an imposing steel gate enclosing a large, looming gothic-esque manor that was nestled comfortably into a clearing surrounded by trees. Needless to say, I was a little caught off-guard. After all, a small island town in Michigan (and yes, I took the time to look up what state Hatchetfield is in between videos, it's Michigan) didn't seem like the kinda place one would find a huge spooky mansion in the woods. Emma spoke up from behind the camera.

"Alright folks, I'm behind the camera now," she expounded. She turned the camera around to show a tall, unfamiliar man in a pale blue t-shirt and khaki shorts lifting something out of the backseat of a dull gray car, his back to the camera. "Look! There's Paul!"

 _"Emma!"_ the man exclaimed in surprise. He whirled around to face the camera, the cardboard box from earlier in his arms. It hadn't clicked for me that this _was_ , in fact, Paul until he spoke. He wasn't a particularly remarkable looking guy, even if his face was almost _comically_ flushed at the moment. "I thought we agreed to keep me off-camera!"

"Well, you should've thought about that before letting me hold it, then!" Emma retorted in a joking tone, earning an exaggerated eye roll from Paul as he shut the car door. Emma snickered before elaborating for the audience. "I needed Paul to lift the box because he's a goddamn lamp post, so I'm gonna be the one filming for the bulk of this video."

Emma turned the camera back towards the gates of the mansion. Specifically, at a doorbell and what looked to be a speaker just above it. "If you're wondering what the deal is with the fence and the gates and shit," Emma quickly remarked. "Hidgens is a _big_ doomsday prepper. This place is basically a panic room."

Following that brief explanation, Emma reached out and pressed the button, producing a faint buzzing sound. For a moment, nothing happened. But then, the speaker suddenly began to crackle, as though it had been turned on for the first time in a while.

 _"Who is it!?"_ a frantic sounding voice demanded from the speaker.

"Professor, it's Emma and Paul," Emma deadpanned, as though she'd gone through this exact same routine _many_ times before. "We called yesterday and told you we'd be coming, remember?"

"Ah, that's right!" the voice that apparently belonged to this 'Professor Hidgens' seemed to recall. "Hold on, I'll let you in. _Alexa!_ Open the gates!"

Without a second of delay, the iron gates slowly opened with a shrill, bone-chilling creak, revealing a dirt path that traveled towards the manor. Emma briefly panned the camera back toward Paul- who still held the box with the tablets, before turning it back towards the old-fashioned abode and starting up the path. They stopped right outside the front door, and as if on cue, it was suddenly swung open by a white-haired old man with wild blue eyes. I'll admit to being somewhat startled, but I was moreso _confused_ by the old man's fashion choices. A black turtleneck, which wouldn't _normally_ strike me as odd. But I'd looked in the video description, and it said that this particular video was uploaded on the first day of May. _Definitely_ not turtleneck weather.

"Hey, professor." Emma greeted the man casually.

"Good day, you two!" Hidgens boomed with a noticeable amount of theatricality in his voice. He then appeared to notice the camera, looking directly at the lens with a befuddled stare. "Emma, are you filming this?"

"Yeah?" Emma answered.

"Why?" Hidgens pressed further.

"I dunno, I just thought it would be neat if we documented our findings on video," Emma explained. I could practically _hear_ the casual shrug that had likely accompanied her words, just from the tone of her voice. "I can put the lens cap on and just record the audio, if you're-"

"No, no, that's quite alright!" Hidgens cut her off, something of a small smile gracing his features. "You've the mind of a real investigator, Emma! Now, come inside so we can see these stone tablets you mentioned. I've got a pot of earl gray on the stove."

Hidgens turned to head back inside, and the pair followed him in. As they did, Emma panned the camera back towards Paul, who shot her a curious glance.

"I fuckin' _told you_ this was a good idea, dude!" she whispered excitedly, earning a small, affectionate smile from Paul in return.

The video cut ahead once more, showing Hidgens sitting on a burgundy couch in what looked like a study area, illuminated by a dim lamplight. The wall behind him appeared a deep gray, and the visible shred of flooring in the shot had a black and white checkerboard tiling. Apologies if this sounds unprofessional, but the whole shot was honestly aesthetic as _hell._ He held one of the stone tablets in his hands, rhythmically tapping his foot against the floor as his eyes scanned the surface of the tablet. He was definitely muttering something to himself under his breath as he observed it, but I was only able to make out the words _"Extraordinary..."_ and _"Simply remarkable..."_.

The camera suddenly began to pan over to the left, slowly revealing Paul sitting beside Emma. He was currently mid-tea sip, carefully holding the dainty porcelain cup with both hands. Paul seemed to take notice of Emma recording him. He gave the camera a playful, faux-annoyed smile, and reached out to turn the camera's view back towards Hidgens, earning a mischievous snicker from Emma. Hidgens looked up at the couple, apparently having not noticed the silent banter occurring between the two.

"This is... _truly_ fascinating..." he mused with a sage-like nod. "It's a bit worn down, but I think with some time I'll be able to make out the writing."

"Awesome!" Emma exclaimed.

"Indeed it is!" Hidgens agreed. "Emma, come see me after class tomorrow, and I'll report my findings to you. I'll hang onto the tablets for now."

"Got it." Emma said.

Another cut ahead, and it's probably safe to assume that this would be the last one in the video. The shot showed Emma sitting at what looked to be a small kitchen table, making it clear to me that Paul was back in control of the camera. It was _also_ quite clear that the two were back in their house. Apartment? I'm not actually sure... Anyways, Emma spoke up.

"Alright, so here's where we're at," she began. "I'm not sure _when_ our next update will be, since we have no idea how long it'll take for Hidgens to decipher the writing on the tablets. He said that he'll update me after his lecture tomorrow, but whether or not he'll actually _have_ any new info for us remains to be seen. So, uh... sit tight until then!"

"I'm sure our audience won't be tearing their hair out over us," Paul chimed in. "After all, the first video only has like, four views so far."

"Oh, _hush!_ " Emma shot back with a rowdy smile. She then softened, shifting her gaze to Paul behind the camera with a fond look in her brown eyes. "For real, though. Isn't this exciting? We could uncover something _big_ from this! My heart's been racing all day! I feel like a detective or something, which eight year old me would've _loved_ , by the way."

"...Yeah, I guess it _is_ pretty exciting!" Paul replied after a beat, the realization blossoming into his tone. "Even if this whole thing turns out to be complete hooey, at least the search'll be pretty fun!"

" _'Hooey'_ , Paul? What?" Emma laughed with bemusement. Her eyes met the camera once more, and promptly widened in surprise. "Oh, shit, we're still recording! Uh, we'll see you guys next time!"

She gave the audience a wave, and the video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be doing more character asks on my tumblr (@teknical-difficulties) until tomorrow's afternoon reblog! I won't be doing this for chapter 3 because it's gonna be a lot shorter than the first two, but for now it's open season! Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this installment of the drowsy town files! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	3. Emma's Update from Hidgens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick update video from Emma about the new information Hidgens has provided them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but it's pretty dang important. Enjoy, folks!

The third video opened with a shot of Emma sitting at the same kitchen table from the ending of the last one. But un _like_ the last video, the kitchen was now brightly lit, and the camera was positioned just across from her on the other side of the table. A window was just barely visible to the right, and from the looks of things, it was probably pretty late. Around sundown, at least. Emma herself looked... kind of exhausted. She was fiddling absentmindedly with a fork, the prongs dancing over a bowl that contained the final remains of what looked to be a salad. Her eyes were noticeably tired, and she wore a gray sweatshirt with the text _"SYCAMORE TIMBERWOLVES 2004"_ spread across the chest. The collar of a white blouse and a black ribbon- like something from a baristas uniform, poked out from the top of the shirt, making it appear as though the sweatshirt had been thrown on haphazardly to cover it. Despite Emma's clear exhaustion, she still gave the camera a bright smile as she began her spiel.

"Hey folks! It is currently, uh..." she began, her gaze briefly flitting off-camera to look at something. Probably a clock or a calendar. "May 2nd, 2019 at 7:22 PM, a full day after our visit with Hidgens. So yeah, you guys didn't have to wait that long for an update, I guess." She gave an awkward snicker before continuing. "Anyways, uh, I stopped by his office after his lecture earlier today, and he supplied me with some new info about the stone tablets."

"And if you're wondering why I didn't just film what Hidgens told me while I was still _there,_ " Emma continued, sounding a little exasperated. "I didn't think to bring the camera with me, though I probably _should've_. But I didn't wanna bring it just in case Hidgens actually didn't have any new information for us, and then I would've been dragging the camera around with me all day for _nothing,_ and..." She paused, shaking her head with a sort of grimace on her face. "Sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"It's okay, babe," Paul chimed in from behind the camera, his voice soft and reassuring. "It just means we get to hear you talk more!"

Emma looked down into the mostly-empty bowl in front of her, but not before a wide smile had spread across her face. She gave a small giggle before continuing. "God, you're such a fucking _dweeb..._ " she teased under her breath, her smile still slightly visible. She drummed her hand on the surface of the table for a second before looking back up at the camera, looking as though she was trying to stifle her grin. "Okay so, Hidgens has _not_ deciphered the writing on the tablets _per se_ , but he's taken a very important step in doing so. The writing is actually just a bunch of numbers, but he believes it could be a cipher."

Emma's expression suddenly turned deadpan. "And if you don't know what a cipher is, _look it up,_ " she stated bluntly. "There's like a million different kinds of ciphers, and I'm not gonna sit here for five hours and explain all of them. This is just supposed to be a short update video."

Emma then picked up a sheet of paper that had seemingly been sitting just out of frame. "I've written down the numbers from each tablet on this paper, and I'm gonna read them to you." she explained.

She began to read the contents of the note, and as she did, captions appeared onscreen. Basically listing off what she was saying. The captions read as so:

_**"Cthulu thing = 26-12-10-10-18-10 2'-21-4-23-11** _   
_**Eyeball thing = 5-15-12-14-15-18-23-8-19** _   
_**Goat cube = 23'-17-18-2 14-4-21-4-1-12-22** _   
_**Mask guy = 19-18-14-18-23-11-18** _   
_**Cheshire Cat = 17-12-5-5-15-8-17-8-19-11-15-19"** _

Emma finished reading, and the captions vanished from the screen. As she set the paper off to the side, Paul began to chuckle.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Kinda sounds like you were reading off the winning lottery numbers." Paul answered, still chuckling. It was at that moment I realized that Paul didn't sound particularly awake either.

Emma playfully rolled her eyes before fixing her gaze to the camera once more. "Anyways, Hidgens says that it's most likely a simple A1Z26 cipher, but that he might have to try out multiple _different_ ciphers on it after he deciphers the initial A1Z26 part. He's pretty sure it's like a multi-step puzzle, y'know what I mean?" she explained drowsily. She drummed her nails on the table, looking around as though she was trying to remember if she had anything else to say. Finally, she locked her eyes with the camera. "Alright, that's it!"

And with no proper outro, the video abruptly ended there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to give a special thanks to @melchron on tumblr for assisting me with the cipher stuff for both this, _and_ the next chapter! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	4. hidgens deciphered the writings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hidgens translates the ciphers on the stone tablets for Paul and Emma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, special thanks to @melchron on tumblr for helping me with the cipher stuff! Enjoy the chapter!

"-it did not take me long to decipher this first piece of the puzzle. Any dolt with half a _brain_ can figure out the A1Z26 cipher, it's just a simple number-to-letter conversion!"

"Well, then what did they say?"

"I was just getting to that, Paul. _Observe!_ "

The fourth video began just as abruptly as the last one ended. The first shot was that of Hidgens standing in front of a large whiteboard in an unfamiliar room, presumably in his own house. The entire right side of the board was empty, but the _left_ side had a few lines of writing scrawled across it in black marker. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was the number ciphers from the last video. I couldn't tell who was filming, but I figured it was safe to assume that it was Paul. Hidgens began to write a series of letters on the right side of the whiteboard, each line corresponding to a A1Z26 cipher on the left side. Each line read as follows.

_**"26-12-10-10-18-10 2'-21-4-23-11 = ZLJJRJ B'UDWK** _   
_**5-15-12-14-15-18-23-8-19 = EOLNORWHS** _   
_**23'-17-18-2 14-4-21-4-1-12-22 = W'QRB NDUDALV** _   
_**19-18-14-18-23-11-18 = SRNRWKR** _   
_**17-12-5-5-15-8-17-8-19-11-15-19 = QLEEOHQHSKLP"** _

The silence from Paul and Emma after the professor finished writing was _deafening._ The camera turned to the left, revealing Emma looking up at Paul behind the camera with a baffled expression on her face. She looked back towards Hidgens, and Paul panned the camera to follow her line of sight.

"Professor, those are... _total_ gibberish." Emma said with evident confusion.

" _Yes,_ Emma, I can see that," Hidgens deadpanned, an exasperated look in his eyes. "However, this is only the first step! You see, my dear, the reason I took a week to decipher these codes, was because I needed to figure out what key the Caesar cipher used. Or if it was even the Caesar cipher _to begin with!_ "

I had checked the description before watching the video. And yes, this video had been uploaded on May 10th, 2019. A whole week after the last one. Hidgens got an excited glint in his eyes as he proceeded on with his explanation.

"But thankfully, whoever wrote these ciphers was no Ted Cruz, and I was able to figure out a key that produced favorable results." he expounded.

"Wait, what do you mean _'Ted Cruz'?_ " Paul asked.

Hidgens looked at the camera as though the answer were obvious. "Is Ted Cruz _not_ the Zodiac Killer?" Hidgens scoffed, answering _Paul's_ question with a question of his own. He sounded _genuinely_ befuddled. "That's what I've been hearing on the internet."

Honestly, the idea that Hidgens would mistake internet memes for facts... _wasn't_ all that surprising to me. He was a theatrical old man who lived in a creepy mansion in the woods on what looked to be the outskirts of town, it was a pretty believable notion. Didn't make it any less entertaining to me, _or_ Emma for that matter, who sounded like she was fighting off laughter as she spoke up.

"Alright, so what's the key then?" she snickered.

"It's simple, really," Hidgens said nonchalantly with a shrug. "I merely shifted each letter backwards _three times_ in the alphabet!"

The professor turned around and began to erase the contents of the whiteboard. And in the old writing's place, he wrote the translated ciphers. They read as follows.

_**"ZLJJRJ B'UDWK = WIGGOG Y'RATH** _   
_**EOLNORWHS = BLIKLOTEP** _   
_**W'QRB NDUDALV = T'NOY KARAXIS** _   
_**SRNRWKR = POKOTHO** _   
_**QLEEOHQHSKLP = NIBBLENEPHIM"** _

There was another beat of uncomfortable silence as Hidgens finished writing. Then, Emma spoke up.

"That's still kinda gibberish, professor..." she muttered.

" _Pronounceable_ gibberish, Emma!" Hidgens exclaimed excitedly, gesturing towards her dramatically with his marker. "Out of all the keys I tried out, shifting each letter back thrice was the _only one_ that produced a good result!"

"Well, I suppose we don't have much to go off of, so this'll have to do for now," Emma huffed, still sounding skeptical. "So, what do we do next?"

"As long as you two don't mind, I'd like to hold onto the tablets for a little while longer," Hidgens requested. "Just so I can study them further."

"Fine by me," Emma said. "Paul?"

"Yeah, that's alright." Paul agreed.

"Excellent!" Hidgens declared with satisfaction. "As for you two, I'd like you both to work on your own theories about these... _names_ on the tablets. I'll keep you informed on my findings to the best of my ability, and I expect you both to do the same for me."

"Will do, professor." Emma complied.

And with that, the video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting interesting~ Hope you guys enjoyed this installment of the drowsy town files! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	5. paul comes up with a theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul presents a theory about one of the recently revealed names on the stone tablets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would y'all believe me if I said that this is the furthest I've _ever_ gotten into a multi-chapter work (on ao3, at least)? Wild... Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

The next video began with a crooked shot of a coffee table with several sheets of paper scattered across its surface, an open laptop and a mug of what looked like black coffee sitting off to the side. I recognized this table from the first video, so this was clearly in Paul and Emma's living room. The papers _definitely_ had some writing on them, but thanks to the lighting I couldn't make any of it out. _Except_ for one sheet sitting next to the mug, which had the symbols from the black stone tablets crudely scribbled on it in pen. It appeared as though Paul and Emma were taking notes, which made sense considering Hidgens request from the end of the last video. The camera began to slowly pan across the table, before the view shifted up to the left side of the couch. But instead of seeing Emma like I was expecting, I was greeted with a shot of _Paul_ , his face illuminated by the light of the laptop screen. He glanced over at the camera, a somewhat uncomfortable smile on his face.

"You said you might have come up with something?" Emma asked from behind the camera.

" _Yeah,_ but..." Paul replied, his voice laced with uncertainty as his eyes darted back and forth between the camera and the table. "It's kind of a reach."

"There are no reaches, only ideas that aren't very good." Emma said... encouragingly?

Paul snorted out a laugh that trailed off into a snickering fit, a bemused look on his face. Emma joined in with a giggle of her own, causing the camera to shake a bit. Paul shook his head before continuing with his theory.

"Okay, so uh... I've been thinking about the name _Wiggog Y'rath,_ " he began, leaning over to grab one of the notes off the table. He held the paper up to the camera, revealing it to be the note containing the crudely drawn symbols from the tablets. He pointed to the symbol that corresponded to Wiggog Y'rath's tablet, the two circles and six curvy lines. "Ever since Hidgens deciphered the codes a few days ago, this name has stuck with me. Something about the name- combined with the symbol from it's tablet, felt _oddly_ familiar to me. And then, I realized what it reminded me of."

"And what would that be?" Emma pressed him.

Paul got a sort of excited gleam in his eyes. "A certain toy advertisement that's been dominating the airwaves since mid-November," he explained. "The Tickle-Me-Wiggly doll."

"...I beg your pardon?" Emma asked after a beat, echoing my confusion. Something told me she regretted saying that there were no reaches, because this seemed like a _pretty big reach._ "Paul, I know you don't like the ad, but this seems a _bit_ excessive, doesn't it?"

"I know, I know, but just hear me out!" Paul retorted, moving his hands around for emphasis. "Something that's always struck me as odd about the Tickle-Me-Wiggly ad is it's... _how do I phrase it?_ It's _weird..._ staying power. Like, the toy itself has been around for _months_ at this point, but it's never gotten another ad. Just shortened versions of the _same_ ad with all mentions of Christmas and Black Friday cut from the song. And yet, the toy remains a _consistent_ bestseller across the country! Most holiday toy fads _die_ after the holiday season. They come out, people break each others necks to get one on Black Friday, and then people stop caring about it by New Years. But not Wiggly."

There was a truly _mind-numbingly_ long pause as Paul finished his theory. This theory was honestly one of the most _bonkers_ things I'd ever heard. Sure, I remember the Wiggly ad airing almost _constantly_ between November of 2018 and August of 2019, and it _was_ a little odd how they were able to get away with exclusively airing the _exact same ad_ for ten consecutive months. And come to think of it, I don't think I've seen or heard _anything_ about the Tickle-Me-Wiggly _since_ last August. But it was just a dumb toy ad with a particularly catchy jingle! My skepticism was soon echoed by Emma, who _finally_ spoke up.

"Paul, this is some _serious_ tin-hat conspiracy shit you're telling me," she chuckled incredulously, almost as if she was expecting him to tell her he was joking any second. "Like, the resemblances in the name and the symbol are coincidences at _best_ , and the thing about the ad is just a case of unusually effective marketing. It's just capitalism preying off of naive parents and their kids, it's not that deep."

Paul, seemingly unphased by Emma's reaction to his theory, gave her a fond smile. "I'm glad to see that my rants stemming from my four years of minoring in marketing in college have rubbed off on you," he joked affectionately. "But I have something else that might convince you."

"Shoot."

"Okay, _so,_ " Paul began once more, getting that look in his eyes that only someone about to start a _major_ info-dump ever gets. "You know Uncle Wiley Toys, the company that _made_ the Tickle-Me-Wiggly dolls?"

"I'm familiar with them." Emma replied, sounding just as curious as I was to see where he was going with this.

"Earlier today, I tried to do some research on the company to see if my theory held any water, and what I discovered _intrigued_ me," Paul explained excitedly. "Or rather, what I _didn't_ discover, because I couldn't find a single _scrap_ of info on the company _anywhere._ You'd think that information regarding the company that created one of the biggest recent toy fads in the country would be a _little_ more widely available, but nope!"

_"Huh..."_ Emma mused. "That's... pretty bizarre."

_"Exactly!"_ Paul exclaimed in an almost _Hidgens_ -esque tone. He was clearly getting more and more hyped up as he continued to speak on the subject. It was kinda hard not to get sucked in, despite my still-lingering skepticism. "Nothing on who founded the company, _when_ it was founded, or even what state it's based in! All I could find was the company's website, which _seems_ like it'd be a treasure trove of information. But when I tried to access the site, my computer immediately _shut itself down._ "

The camera suddenly shook, as though Emma had just done a rather animated double-take. "Shit, _really?_ " she scoffed, sounding disbelieving yet _thoroughly_ fascinated.

"Yep, it just blacked the fuck out!" Paul replied, sounding like he was nearing the end of his tangent. His face grew mildly irritated. "Which would've been _fine_ if I hadn't been doing this research at _work,_ by the way. I spent like an hour trying to get the damn thing working again, and Mr. Davidson was _pissed._ "

Emma audibly cringed behind the camera. _"Yikes..."_ she muttered.

I still had my doubts, but I couldn't deny that the apparent lack of info on Uncle Wiley Toys _was_ pretty suspicious. And the fact that the company's website caused Paul's work computer to shut down for an _hour_ set some alarm bells off in my head. Paul shifted in his seat, appearing as though he was preparing to end his info-dump.

"So long story short, Uncle Wiley Toys is sketchy as hell, and I think the Tickle-Me-Wiggly dolls _may_ be worth looking into," he finished with a satisfied huff, tacking on a quick mutter of: "Thank you for coming to my TedTalk."

Emma giggled at his last second addition- prompting a teasing smirk from Paul, before proposing a suggestion. "Okay, here's an idea," she said. "Why don't we head to Toy Zone tomorrow and pick up a Tickle-Me-Wiggly, _just_ so we can examine it for clues or something?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Paul complied, his enthusiasm from his info-dump not quite vanished yet.

"Alright, cool," Emma said with an air of finality. "You better not be sending us on a wild goose chase, babe."

"I _promise_ I'm not," Paul insisted, a look of determination in his eyes. "I really think I'm onto something here."

"If you say so..." Emma sighed, like her earlier skepticism hadn't _completely_ gone away yet. "So, take-out Chinese sound good for tonight?"

The video ended there, leaving me _very_ intrigued about the next video, simply titled _"Wiggog Y'rath (Part 1)"._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all are as excited for the next chapter as I am, bc I think it's gonna be pretty good ;) Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	6. Wiggog Y'rath (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul and Emma purchase a Tickle-Me-Wiggly to see if Paul's theory has any merit to it, but things don't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it! My gift to you all this year is the first _big_ chapter of DTfiles! Enjoy ;)

_**"WARNING: The contents of this video may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised."** _

The moment the playlist switched to the next video, I was met with _that_ content warning. Immediately, my stomach began to fill up with dread as I wondered what could _possibly_ happen in this video that would warrant such a dire warning. Even more jarring than the sudden content warning, was the hard-cut to a shot of a mall parking lot on what appeared to be a sunny Spring day with nary a cloud in sight. Talk about mood whiplash... The camera panned around the semi-crowded lot, and I managed to catch a quick glimpse of Emma emerging from the same gray car from the second video. Then the view landed on an eye-catchingly bright red store with the words _"TOY ZONE"_ proudly displayed above the entrance. I knew the Toy Zone chain of stores decently well, there's one not too far from my current residence. But it doesn't look _nearly_ as big and impressive as this one in Hatchetfield. In fact, I'm almost positive the Toy Zone near me used to be a Dollar General. Anyways, Paul swiveled the camera's view back to Emma, who donned a pair of sunglasses as she approached.

"Ready to be that asshole couple carrying a camera around in a public place?" Paul asked, his tone lighthearted and humorous.

Though her eyes were blocked by her shades, I could still tell that Emma replied with a playful eye roll just from the smirk on her face. "Hey, you're the asshole carrying the camera, babe, not me." she teased.

"Yeah, but you're complacent in my assholeness," Paul retorted. "So that in turn makes _you_ an asshole as well."

A beat. "...Touche." Emma conceded with a slow nod.

There was a sudden jump cut, showing Emma walking slightly ahead of Paul as the two explored the stuffed toy aisle of the store, well-lit by the fluorescent lighting that shone from overhead. Paul panned the camera around, showing the dozens upon dozens of plush toys that lined the shelves. But no Tickle-Me-Wiggly dolls. Paul pointed the camera straight ahead once more, showing Emma turning a right corner, presumably to another aisle.

" _Ooh,_ Paul!" she called from the other side of the shelf. "Here they are!"

Paul picked up the pace a bit, turning the corner just as Emma had done. Sure enough, the shelf she was looking at had a whole section that was completely _dominated_ by boxed Tickle-Me-Wiggly dolls. Emma grabbed one off the shelf and observed the front of the box. She gave another eye roll, this one much more visible since her sunglasses were now perched on her head.

"It's got a little hole on the front of the box over the doll's stomach," she scoffed. "It's even got a little arrow pointing to it that says _'Try me! Tickle my belly-well!'_."

Paul chuckled derisively. "Well, go on, Em!" he exclaimed, his tone _oozing_ with sarcasm. "You gotta tickle his belly-well!"

"First of all, absolutely _not_ ," Emma snickered with an exaggerated wince. "Second of all, if you ever say _'belly-well'_ again, I'm breaking up with you."

"Y'know what? That's fair," Paul said. "I'm pretty sure I shaved a good ten years off my life from saying that, anyway."

The couple laughed together in response. As Emma's laughter calmed down with a sigh, she continued to observe the box. But when her eyes fell towards the lower half of it, they widened in surprise.

"Oh my god..." she muttered, her voice flat.

"Em?" Paul questioned with concern as he took a few steps forward. "What's wrong?"

"Paul, you and Hidgens were _right..._ " Emma answered vaguely. She pointed to a yellow half-circle underneath the cartoony art of Wiggly on the front of the box, where some illegible blue text was just _barely_ visible. "Look here, under the art of Wiggly on the box. It straight up _says_ 'Wiggog Y'rath' here!"

With a shocked declaration of _'What!?'_ , Paul walked over to stand behind Emma, pointing the camera over her shoulder and at the box. He zoomed in slightly, showing that _yes,_ Emma's statement was true. The name 'Wiggog Y'rath' was on the box. Paul gave a disbelieving chuckle.

"I can't _believe_ it would be so obvious!" he exclaimed, clearly taken aback.

"I _know_ , right?" Emma replied with shock and awe in her voice. "So, not only were you right about the dolls being connected to the tablets somehow, but this also means that Hidgens really _did_ decode the ciphers properly!"

"Yeah, I guess so..." Paul mused with satisfaction as he zoomed the camera back out.

Emma looked up at Paul, an apologetic look in her eyes. "I'm sorry for doubting you." she said bashfully.

"Hey, it's okay, baby," Paul assured her, his voice soft and sincere. "You have _nothing_ to apologize for."

Before I could process my disbelief at how ridiculously _convenient_ the confirmation of Paul's theory was, there was another sudden jump cut ahead. I was immediately greeted with a shot of Paul and Emma sitting next to each other on their now familiar-to-me dark blue living room couch. Considering how still the camera was, I assumed that it was most likely set up on a tripod. Emma smiled at the camera.

"Hey, it's like an hour later!" she exclaimed, catching me slightly off-guard. It had been a few videos since either of them directly addressed the audience. She gave the camera a wink. "Bet you thought we couldn't both be onscreen at the same time, eh?"

"Pretty sure we still can't," Paul joked flatly. "The universe is probably gonna cave in on itself soon."

Emma giggled- shooting Paul a playful smile that he quickly returned, before she leaned down to presumably grab something from under the coffee table. Paul eyed the camera nervously.

"Okay, uh..." he began, his voice almost drowned out by the rustling of a plastic shopping bag. "We're gonna try and examine the Wiggly doll we purchased earlier to... look for clues, I guess?"

Right on cue, Emma pulled the now-unboxed Tickle-Me-Wiggly doll out from under the table, displaying it for the camera. It was... _certainly_ a Wiggly doll, in all of it's overpriced glory. Paul eyed the doll with an expression I couldn't read as Emma continued on.

"Ain't it a beaut?" Emma asked sarcastically. "You wanna know what you can do with it? You can squeeze it's stomach, and it giggles. Watch..."

She gave the doll's belly a halfhearted squeeze, activating the voice box inside of it.

"Hehehehe- _hic!_ Hehehehe- _hic!_ That tickles!" the Wiggly doll giggled in a raspy, childlike voice. "I think we're going to be _very good_ fwendly-wends!"

"...And _that's it._ Revolutionary, really," Emma deadpanned, staring right at the camera. "I feel I should point out that we payed _fifty dollars_ plus sales tax for this little gremlin."

"Oh, don't say that, Em!" Paul chimed in, his voice sounding _significantly_ less nervous now. A small smile graced his features as he continued to eye the doll. "Now that I've got a better look at him, I think he's pretty cute!"

Emma did a double-take, glaring at her boyfriend with bafflement. "Wh- Paul, the fuck? He's not-" she paused as her gaze fell back on the doll. Her head tilted to the side inquisitively, and she gave a shrug. "...Well, maybe he's a _little_ cute..."

Needless to say, I was... _surprised_ at the couple's sudden attitude change towards the doll. But I forced myself to brush it off, and ignore the uncomfortable vibe I was starting to feel. Even as Emma began to attentively smooth the doll's ruffled fur down while she spoke.

"Alright so, uh... We're gonna start our examination by, um..." she muttered, her voice distracted and weary. She continued to stroke the doll's fur, her hand motions almost _hypnotically_ repetitive. Paul didn't appear to be listening to a word she was saying, choosing instead to watch the Tickle-Me-Wiggly intently. "We're going to-"

"Hey, Em?" Paul suddenly cut Emma off, placing his hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly- like she'd forgotten he was even _there_ , and turned to face him. "Would you mind if... I held him instead?"

Emma subtly jerked the doll away from Paul. "Why?" she asked, almost _defensively._

Paul scratched the back of his head. "I dunno, I was just curious about... how he _felt?_ " he replied sheepishly, his eyes flitting between Emma and the Wiggly.

"He's very soft and fuzzy," Emma said with an irritated grumble. "Now if you _please,_ I'd like to-"

"Well, then why can't I just hold him then, huh?" Paul snapped, sounding genuinely peeved.

Okay, _now_ I was unnerved. Something was undeniably wrong here. The sudden shift in mood towards the doll, I could ignore. But they were also referring to the doll as _'he'_ instead of _'it'_ like they were doing earlier. And Paul had interrupted Emma not once, but _twice_ in three minutes! Sure, he'd interrupted her back in the first video, but he'd _immediately_ apologized for it then! No such thing in this video. What the hell was going _on?_

"Back off, cameraboy, and let the _real_ star of the show do her thing." Emma fired back bitingly, an aggressive glint in her bright green eyes.

...Wait. _Green?_ Emma's eyes were supposed to be brown! It's not something I ever paid active attention to. But with Emma appearing onscreen more frequently than Paul, I'd grown quite accustomed to her eyes. And they were _definitely_ supposed to be brown. Looking closer, I realized that _Paul's_ eyes were the same shade of green. Though Paul hadn't appeared on camera that much, there was something peculiar I'd noticed about his eyes. They seemed to change color based on the lighting. Sometimes they were bright blue, sometimes they looked more gray-ish, and yes, other times they appeared green. But this was different. Instead of a dull, forest green, both Paul _and_ Emma's eyes were a strikingly loud neon green that almost seemed to glow in the low lamplight of the living room. A cruel smirk _very_ unlike Paul spread across his face.

" _Ha!_ Cameraboy!?" he spat harshly. "You couldn't even _do_ this show without me! You needed me to carry the stone tablets into Hidgens's house because you're too fucking _short!_ "

"I could've done that, you arrogant asswipe!" Emma retorted, her face aghast, but _eerily_ unhurt at his harsh words.

"Oh _sure_ , babe!" Paul exclaimed, crossing his arms smugly. "And y'know what? You couldn't have even _bought_ the Wiggly without me, because _I'm_ the one who makes all the damn money around here! You didn't even have fucking _health insurance_ before you met me!"

Paul suddenly grabbed the Tickle-Me-Wiggly by the head, gripping it's fur tightly as he leaned in closer to Emma's face with a truly chilling stare. "I paid for him with my own credit card, so I'm the one who gets to hold him," he said, his voice _threateningly_ low and gravelly. "So hand him over, _now._ "

Emma was unphased, leaning in closer so that her and Paul's lips were nearly touching. But absent from her gaze was the fond affection that she normally looked at Paul with. _"Eat shit, Matthews."_ she hissed.

And then, all hell broke loose. The two began to roughly yank the doll back and forth between them, like children fighting over a toy but _so_ much worse. All the while they shouted various insults and obscenities at each other.

Emma tugged the doll towards her. _"Worthless fucking lout!"_

Paul tugged the doll back by the head. _"Goddamn bitch!"_

My heart raced as I watched them argue, completely slack-jawed. I didn't actually _know_ these two, but I'd grown somewhat attached to them and their relationship over the course of five and a half videos. So seeing them fight and scream themselves hoarse over something so insignificant as a _Tickle-Me-Wiggly doll_ made me feel sick to my stomach.

Another pull. _"Bug-eyed little cretin!"_

Another yank. _"Arrogant smartass!"_

Despite my shock and repulsion, I _knew_ this had to be the Wiggly doll's doing. Even _without_ the freaky change in eye color they both underwent, the change in attitude was _far_ too instantaneous. No couple, no matter how healthy, no matter how dysfunctional, would _ever_ get into such an intense argument over something as petty as a Tickle-Me-Wiggly doll. Still, I silently prayed for the fight to end.

_"Fucking anti-social shut-in!"_

_"You selfish, good-for-nothing coward!"_

And then finally, with a particularly aggressive yank from both sides, the head of the Wiggly doll was torn _clean off._ Bits of stuffing flew from the doll's body as the couple nearly fell backwards on the couch. For one horrifying moment, I feared that the argument would only escalate from here. But Paul and Emma simply stared off into space, the neon green in their eyes slowly fading away, and I released a breath I didn't even realize I was holding. Once every trace of green was gone, the two seemed to snap back into reality. They began to eye each other and the ruined Wiggly doll, looking _completely_ lost.

"Wh-what the fuck just happened...?" Emma muttered, her voice dazed and shaky as her gaze shifted between Paul and the decapitated body of the Wiggly doll that she held in her hand. Her eyes met the camera, and she appeared taken aback. "Are we still recording?"

Paul dropped the disembodied Wiggly head on the couch, pressing his hand to his forehead with a pained groan. "God, _my head..._ " he mumbled wearily, massaging his temples. He looked to Emma, and his face blossomed with concern at the sight of his clearly confused girlfriend. "Emma? Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Emma looked at him, looking unsure. "Babe, do you remember _any_ of what happened in the last five or so minutes?" she asked, deadly serious. "Because I don't."

Paul blinked in surprise. "W-well, you pulled the doll out of the bag, and then..." he cut himself off with another groan, running his hand through his hair. "It's kinda blurry after that..."

A pause. "We need to check the recording. _Now._ "

She turned to reach for the camera, and the video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very_ much appreciated!


	7. Wiggog Y'rath (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After watching over the footage they'd recorded for the previous video, Paul and Emma take some time to reflect on what just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say I'm sorry for the cliffhanger last chapter, but I'm actually not :)

After the events of the last video, I had _no_ idea what to expect from this one. But if I had to think of _something_ to expect, I probably would've thought up something very similar to the shot I was greeted with upon starting the next video. Emma and Paul were still sitting on their living room couch, but the lighting in the room was slightly dimmer. Time had clearly passed in the room, though exactly how _much_ time was unclear. The couple was sitting noticeably closer together than they were during the second half of the previous video, but the look in both of their eyes was _haunting._ Emma's eyes looked so... _empty,_ completely void of the excited spark they always got upon beginning another video. Paul, on the other hand, looked to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and I _truly_ don't believe that to be an exaggeration. His eyes were wide and remorseful, and he was anxiously tapping his fists together in his lap. On top of all that, the only sound to be heard upon the video starting up was his slow and shaky breathing. The decapitated Tickle-Me-Wiggly doll was nowhere in sight. After an _agonizingly_ long period of silence from the two, Emma took a deep breath and placed her hand on Paul's leg, before speaking up in a small voice.

"Okay, so we've watched over the recording, a-and we've taken the time to formulate a few theories about... what just happened," she began shakily. She gave a humorless chuckle before continuing. "Namely, it would appear that the Wiggly doll- as... _buck-fucking-wild_ as it sounds, has a way of provoking some kind of... _aggressive reaction_ in people."

"I-I wouldn't have believed it at first," Paul spoke up, sounding just as panicked as he looked. "But after what just happened, and considering the doll's _confirmed_ connection to the stone tablets, I think it's safe to assume that it was supernatural in nature."

"Undoubtedly, yeah..." Emma agreed with a weak nod.

"I mean, it changed our eyes, and I'm _positive_ it wasn't just the bad lighting in here..." Paul continued, sounding a little frantic.

Emma moved her hand from Paul's leg to his back. "A-and Paul?" she asked. The two looked to each other, but they didn't appear to be making direct eye contact. "Did you hear it... _saying things_ to you at all? Things that it definitely _wasn't_ saying in the recording?"

Paul's eyebrows quirked up in surprise. "You heard it too?"

Come to think of it, the doll had remained _eerily_ silent throughout Paul and Emma's entire argument in the previous video. Which was pretty bizarre, considering how rough they were being with it. You'd think that the doll's voice box would've been accidentally activated once or twice, but no such thing occurred. Almost as if the doll had _wanted_ to remain silent for the audience. Paul continued on.

"It was making... _offers_ to me while you were demonstrating it for the audience," he explained as Emma listened intently. "It was saying things about how it could _'bring me the happiness I so desperately crave'_ if I could _just_ get my hands on it. I-I guess it wormed its way into my head or something..."

"Huh..." Emma muttered, staring down at her lap. "That's... _different_ from what I was hearing..."

Paul ceased his fist-tapping. "What was it saying to you?" he asked, his voice soft yet still shaky and anxious.

Emma seemed to internally debate with herself before answering. "I-it told me that it would 'fix all my past mistakes, a-and bring my family back'," she replied, her hand that wasn't on Paul's back appearing to tremble. I couldn't help but think about how she'd mentioned having a brother-in-law in the first video, but made _no_ mention of any siblings. "It said it would make my life complete if I just 'joined it in Drowsy Town', whatever the _fuck_ that's supposed to mean..."

I felt myself jump at the mention of Drowsy Town, and like a flash, I _finally_ realized why the name sounded so god _damn_ familiar. It was mentioned in the commercial jingle _for_ the Tickle-Me-Wiggly dolls! If I'm remembering correctly, some sailor-type guy with an obviously fake beard claims that Wiggly is _'deep down in Drowsy Town sleeping the dreamless sleep of the dead'_. I couldn't _believe_ it took me so long to realize! But then I began to wonder. Is _this_ when they decided to call the show 'the drowsy town files'? Or did that happen later? Emma gently took Paul's hand, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"But I have my family," she said with utmost sincerity, _finally_ looking Paul in the eye. "You, Tom, Tim, a-and even Becky."

Paul took hold of Emma's other hand, the affection in his stare that had been so _jarringly_ absent in the latter half of the previous video coming back in full force. "And _you_ are my happiness, Emma."

With a tearful breath, Emma pulled Paul into a tight embrace that he quickly returned, burying her face into his chest. Paul pulled her slightly closer, running his hand up and down her back. Tears began to trickle down Paul's face as he rested his chin atop Emma's head, and I could hear her softly weeping into the fabric of his shirt in turn. I couldn't help but be a little surprised at how _blatant_ this display of affection was. Up until now, Paul and Emma had only ever shown their love through playful teasing, fond looks, and pet names. At least on camera. Honestly, I felt like I was intruding on their moment. Nonetheless, I felt relief wash over me as I watched them holding each other so lovingly.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Emma..." Paul choked out tearfully, appearing to tighten his hold on her. "I-I don't care how much money you make. You could be the poorest person in Hatchetfield, and it wouldn't change how I feel about you. Y-you're the bravest person I know."

"I'm sorry too, Paul," Emma sobbed, her voice slightly muffled by Paul's chest, but still audible. "You're not worthless, and you're _so_ much more than just my cameraboy. Don't _ever_ forget that."

After another minute or so, Emma pulled back slightly from the embrace, removing her face from Paul's chest. His t-shirt had a visible dark spot where Emma had been pressed against, but he didn't seem to mind. The two lightly bumped their foreheads together, Paul's arms still around Emma. Before this point I honestly hadn't really noticed how _significant_ the height difference between Paul and Emma was, but it was pretty hard to ignore just how _small_ she looked in his embrace. Emma shot the camera a quick glance, and gave a startled chuckle. As though she'd completely _forgotten_ they were still recording. Paul let her shuffle out of his arms, taking a quick moment to brush a stray tear from her face with his thumb. The two looked towards the camera, still holding each other's hands.

"Word of advice for you, our lovely audience," Emma began, her voice slightly more hoarse than it had been a few minutes prior. "If you have a Tickle-Me-Wiggly doll in your house at the moment, uh... burn it. Just fucking burn it. No good can come from those... _things._ "

"We, unfortunately, cannot burn ours. Or, uh..." Paul sniffed, wiping away a few tears of his own. He briefly glanced off to the side, at what I assumed to be the destroyed Wiggly doll sitting just off camera. "What's left of it, anyways..."

Emma giggled, sounding rather exhausted. "Yeah, we'll be taking ours to Hidgens tomorrow so he can examine it," she explained. "But for now, we're just gonna take a well-earned rest."

She waved goodbye to the audience, and Paul pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. For a moment, I expected the video to end there, but then Paul spoke up.

"I love you, Emma." he said quietly.

Emma appeared to be caught off-guard, her eyes wide with surprise. But then she looked up at Paul, and her gaze softened. "I love you too, Paul."

The video ended there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaay, everything's okay! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	8. Hidgens Studies the Doll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day, Paul and Emma bring the remains of their destroyed Tickle-Me-Wiggly doll to Hidgens, hoping to find out what it was about the doll that made them go berserk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of an eye of the hurricane chapter where we just cool down and learn shit in between major plot points. Enjoy!

The next video began with a familiar shot. Hidgens sitting on a burgundy-colored couch in the snazzy study room of his manor. But this time around, Emma was sitting to his right, and a laptop sat on his legs. Based on the look of pure intrigue on the professor's face, they appeared to be watching something on the laptop. Emma didn't really appear to be _watching_ the screen, so much as she was looking in it's general direction. She seemed to radiate a nervous energy, bouncing her leg in place with an uncomfortable expression on her face. Once I heard the muffled audio coming from the laptop, it didn't take me long to realize exactly _what_ they were watching.

_"Fucking anti-social shut-in!"_

_"You selfish, good-for-nothing coward!"_

The audio from the sixth video emitted from the laptop, and I felt a shudder wrack my body as I was forced to recall the events of that video. Though I knew that the argument was _entirely_ the Wiggly doll's- or I guess Wiggog Y'rath's doing, hearing the two screaming those harsh words at each other still made me feel a sense of dread and anxiety. It was clear that Emma had wanted to _personally_ show Hidgens what the doll had made them do, but based on the almost _nauseous_ look on her face, I could tell she wasn't enjoying having to relive the experience.

 _"...We need to check the recording._ Now. _"_

Hidgens shut the laptop as the video ended, and Emma seemed to sigh in relief. "Remarkable..." he said in breathless wonder. " _Simply_ remarkable..."

"If that's what you wanna call it..." Emma muttered, sounding almost _choked up._

Emma grabbed the laptop off the professor's legs, and strode over to join Paul on the couch across from Hidgens. Paul tracked her with the camera as she did, and I caught a quick glimpse of Emma nestling against Paul's side as she sat down beside him. He panned the camera back towards Hidgens, who appeared deep in thought. He looked up at the camera with an inquisitive look in his eyes.

"So, what do you two think happened?" the professor asked.

"We think the doll managed to get inside our heads somehow," Paul replied. "After we made that recording, we discussed how we both heard the doll _saying_ things about how we could... I guess _achieve happiness_ if we could get our hands on it."

"Really?" Hidgens pressed, quirking his eyebrows in surprise.

"Mhm," Paul hummed in confirmation. I couldn't help but notice how deadly silent Emma was being during this conversation. "And on top of all that, neither of us can actually remember _having_ that argument! If we hadn't caught it on camera, we would've _never_ known it'd even happened."

"Fascinating..." Hidgens mused to himself before looking back up at Paul. "Now Paul, you said that you brought the doll?"

"Yep, it's in-" Paul whirled the camera around to face a lone shoe box sitting on a table to the right of the couch. "-that box we brought with us."

"Excellent. I'd like to study it in my lab, if you don't mind?" Hidgens requested, earning a compliant hum from Paul in reply. The professor's gaze flitted off to the side, presumably to where Emma was sitting. "Emma, could you help me out? I might need an extra pair of hands."

"Huh?" Emma piped up from beside Paul, as though she had been zoned out for the past minute or so. "Oh, uh... sure, professor."

The video cut ahead to a shot of another familiar room. This was the room Hidgens had set the whiteboard up in back in the fourth video. Apparently this was his lab... Hidgens stood dead center in the frame, donning a white lab coat, rubber gloves like the kind you'd see a surgeon wear, a surgical mask, and a pair of protective goggles. In one gloved hand, he held the disembodied head of the Wiggly doll, and in the other he held a pair of tweezers. Honestly, this get-up would've seemed like a bit much if I wasn't already aware of what the doll was capable of. All this protective gear was _perfectly_ reasonable, though how much it would actually _help_ remains to be seen. In the background of the shot, I could see Emma sitting atop a counter in a similar outfit to Hidgens's, seemingly inspecting the stone tablet of Wiggog Y'rath. _Why_ she was inspecting it, I'm not sure.

"Alright you two, stand back," Hidgens ordered, holding up the Wiggly's head with a somewhat ridiculous-looking theatricality. "I'm about to collect a sample of the specimen's stuffing."

Emma looked up from the stone tablet she was holding, a befuddled look in her eyes. "Uh, professor?" she said, her voice echoing slightly thanks to the size of the room. It made me wonder just how _big_ this manor was, anyway... "I'm pretty sure it's not gonna explode..."

Hidgens turned to face his pupil. "Well, whyever not?" he asked, sounding both curious and a little exasperated. "It sure made you two _explode_ at each other."

Emma did a double-take, a surprised and slightly hurt look on her face. I'm sure the professor didn't _mean_ to sound so insensitive, but it's clear that he never learned of the phrase _'Too soon'_. Nevertheless, Emma hopped down from her spot on the counter, and set the tablet down where she'd been sitting. Hidgens eyed the camera, and Paul took a few steps back with an uncomfortable huff. The professor gave a satisfied nod, and dramatically raised his tweezers.

Hidgens pulled a small tweezerful (which isn't a word, but goddamn it, _it should be_ ) of stuffing out of the doll's head. Predictably, there was no explosion, but he still held it away from him at arm's length as he approached the counter where Emma had been sitting. Paul followed close behind with the camera, and Emma placed a microscope on the counter. After setting the Wiggly's head down, Hidgens grabbed a slide for the microscope. And with surgeon-like levels of precision, he placed the small tuft of stuffing onto the slide and stuck it under the lens of the microscope. The professor peered into the scope.

"Good _god..._ " he muttered after a second of observing.

"What is it, professor?" Emma asked, stepping into frame.

"Come see for yourself, Emma!"

With a confused glance towards the camera, Emma joined Hidgens by the microscope. He stepped out of the way so she could take a look, and Emma leaned down to peer into the lens. Her opened eye against the scope seemed to widen in shock.

 _"Whoa..."_ she gasped, awestruck.

"What do you see?" Paul asked as he approached.

"There's like a whole colony of little green amoeba motherfuckers in here!" Emma exclaimed, not taking her eye off the lens. She had a look of awed delight on her face as she appeared to zoom the scope in and out of the stuffing.

"I mean, that's one way of putting it?" Hidgens murmured from just off-screen.

"Shit, _really?_ " Paul inquired.

Emma stepped away from the scope and gestured for him to come closer. "Yeah, get the camera up in this thing!"

As Paul awkwardly pressed the lens of the camera against that of the microscope's, I couldn't help but feel like that was definitely _not_ how you were supposed to do it. But surprisingly, the view was quite clear! And indeed, I was able to make out a few _'little green amoeba motherfuckers'_ in the zoomed-in stuffing. But they didn't appear to be moving much. In fact, they were completely _still_ , aside from some occasional twitches. Almost like they were dying ants. Kinda gross, if you ask me. Suddenly, the camera was moved away from the scope.

"Take the camera." Paul muttered.

The POV was then switched to Emma, who showed Paul properly peering into the microscope. She zoomed the camera out slightly, and panned the view over to Hidgens.

"So, what do you think these things are?" she asked.

Hidgens appeared to think for a moment before responding. "Well, it's just a theory, but I think that maybe these microorganisms are what give the doll it's fantastic properties," he hypothesized, gesturing around for emphasis. He grabbed the decapitated Wiggly head off the counter, studying it intently. "Perhaps when you two got your hands on the doll, the creatures wormed their way out of it and into your heads, dying off when the host vessel was ripped open."

 _"Nasty..."_ Emma mused, and not without reason. After all, the professor was _essentially_ implying that she and Paul had been temporarily infected with microscopic brain worms.

"Indeed, Emma," Hidgens agreed with a sage-like nod. "I wonder if the fur of the Wiggly has similar properties..."

"Why don't you check?" Emma suggested. "After all, you've got _tons_ of it on your gloves."

"Huh?" Hidgens asked, checking his hands. He nodded once more, apparently noticing the hairs. Honestly, I couldn't see anything thanks to the zoomed-out angle of the camera, but it was safe to assume that they were _probably_ there. "So I do..."

"Yeah, these things shed like German Shepherds with an anxiety disorder." Emma joked.

Chuckling at Emma's... _colorful_ comparison, Hidgens lightly nudged Paul away from the microscope and removed the stuffing slide from under the scope. Retrieving a different set of slides from a pocket on his coat, he removed a Wiggly hair from his glove and slid it under the microscope. He looked into it once more.

"I can confirm that the organisms are indeed on the Tickle-Me-Wiggly doll's hairs too," Hidgens declared. He stepped back from the scope, appearing to ponder something. "Which brings to mind another theory brewing in my head..." he looked over at Paul, who'd been silently watching on as Hidgens worked. "Paul, could you retrieve the doll's body?"

"Oh!" Paul exclaimed, like he hadn't expected his assistance to be requested. "Sure, professor."

Paul briskly walked off-camera to the other side of the lab. "What do you need the body for?" Emma asked. "It should have the exact same properties as the head, right?"

"Yes, but I have reason to believe that it's stronger in the body," Hidgens explained with a nod. He eyed the camera curiously. "The advertising for this doll places a heavy amount of emphasis on it's tummy, correct?"

"Uh, yeah...?" Emma replied, _clearly_ wondering where the professor was going with this.

Hidgens threw his hand up in a very _'Well, there you have it!'_ fashion. "Well, then it stands to reason that the doll's tummy would be the source of it's power!" he said with a triumphant air of finality.

There was a pause. "That may have been the _strangest_ thing I've ever heard you say, professor..." Emma mused.

Despite how odd it sounded, it was a pretty believable theory. Then again, after the events of the last two videos, _anything_ seemed believable. Paul returned with the headless body of the Tickle-Me-Wiggly, and Hidgens took it from him with a curt nod. He retrieved a scalpel from a nearby drawer, and carefully sliced the toy's belly open with it. Grabbing another tweezerful (I'm sticking _with_ this word) of stuffing from the incision, the professor readied another set of slides to hold it. Once the tuft was ready, Hidgens slid it under the microscope and peered into the lens one last time.

"Called it!" he exclaimed, surprisingly informal considering how he'd been speaking all throughout this video.

"Wait, really?" Emma asked, caught off-guard.

Hidgens backed away from the scope, and Paul stepped up in his place. He looked at the contents of the slide, and gave a startled and somewhat disgusted sounding noise at what he saw. Without a word, he gestured for Emma to come take a look, and moved away from the microscope like it'd kill him if he didn't. Emma approached and pressed the camera against the lens, treating the viewing audience to a truly _unnerving_ sight. There was another green microorganism in the stuffing, this one a darker shade of green than the ones found in the doll's head. It also appeared bigger than those ones, though that really isn't saying much considering it was _still_ microscopic. It was thrashing around violently- very unlike the subtle twitching of the other creatures, as though it was in pain. And upon looking closer, I realized that there were _more_ microorganisms emerging from this bigger one, like it was some kind of core or queen bee. But just as soon as the smaller amoeba disconnected themselves from their source, they fizzled off into nothing... Emma backed away from the microscope, and panned the camera over to Hidgens.

"So TL;DR, Wiggog Y'rath controls people with freaky little brain worms that live inside his overpriced dolls, and said freaky little brain worms have a sort of _hive queen_ in the stomach of each doll that continuously shits them out?" Emma reviewed.

" _Exactly,_ Emma!" Hidgens replied as though that were a completely _normal_ sentence.

"So, what do we do with this info?" she asked.

"Easy, really," Hidgens said with a nonchalant shrug. "Go back home, and work on your theories about the other names on the stone tablets."

"But what about the doll?" Paul chimed in, seemingly standing next to Emma behind the camera.

"I'll hang onto it and continue my studies," the professor explained. "These _'little green amoeba motherfuckers'_ , as Emma put it, are _very_ fascinating to me."

" _Whoa,_ professor, are you sure about that?" Emma inquired, sounding skeptical. "This thing is _super_ dangerous, you saw the recording!"

"All the more reason for me to take it off your hands!" Hidgens declared before getting a look of deadly seriousness in his eyes. "Emma, you and Paul have suffered enough because of this little thing. So let me take that weight off your shoulders so you can focus on furthering our research."

Emma briefly panned the camera over to Paul, who gave her a small, reassuring smile. She turned it back towards the professor.

"Alright," she complied. "Thank you, professor."

Hidgens gave a small smirk and a nod. "Anytime."

The video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	9. paul had a weird dream about a goatman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul explains an odd dream he had, believing it to be relevant to their case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, everyone! Just a heads-up, after this chapter is posted I'm gonna start work on two new things, so you'll have to wait a _liiiiittle_ longer than usual for chapter 10. One is another one-shot for my Heroes of Hatchetfield AU (and I ask that you go read the first fic in that series, "Answer the Call", bc it kinda got buried), and the other is the first chapter of a series of fluffy Paulkins one-shots based on some hcs that I've been posting to my tumblr (@piece-of-caek). Soooo, yeah! Enjoy this chapter!

"Alright, we're rolling. Tell me about this dream you just had."

The next video began with a quick shot of some floral bedsheets, before _immediately_ panning up and to the right. The sight that greeted me was Paul, sitting up in a bed with the very same floral-patterned comforter draped over his legs. Based on his drooping eyes that still looked heavy with sleep, he'd likely just woken up. He had a pretty bad case of bedhead- his short brown hair appearing messy and tousled, and he rather noticeably lacked a shirt. The bedroom was dimly lit by a lamp that sat on the nightstand on Paul's side of the bed. In the background, I could see a dresser with a mirror hanging over it, just barely in frame. Reflected _in_ said mirror was Emma holding the camera, and I couldn't help but notice that her hair was down. After seeing her hair in nothing but a messy updo for the entire series thus far, I almost didn't recognize her. Paul gave a yawn before speaking up.

"Okay, so uh-" he muttered sleepily, bringing a hand up to his face to rub at his exhausted eyes.

"Wait, I'm sorry for interrupting, babe," Emma quickly chimed in with an awkward chuckle. "But uh... I just realized you're not wearing a shirt. Do you want me to put the lens cap on, or just record the audio with my phone, or...?"

Paul shrugged nonchalantly. " _Eh,_ we already got a comment on the second video that said I had a nice ass," he mused. "I can handle whatever thirsty YouTube commenters can throw at me."

Honestly, I hadn't been bothering to look at the comments section for each video. Based on the overall low view counts of each video in the playlist, I figured there wouldn't be much there. Maybe I was missing out on some entertaining shit, but I wasn't _really_ curious enough to actually go and check.

Emma gave a snort that trailed off into a tired laughing fit, causing the camera to shake slightly. "Okay, fair enough," she snickered. She sighed to calm herself back down before continuing. "Now, about this dream?"

Paul gave Emma a tired, yet still adoring smile before continuing on. "Okay, so context for the audience," he began, looking directly at the camera. "It's currently, um... around 3:40-ish AM on May 16th, 2019, and I just woke up from a nightmare that I _believe_ might be related to our case."

"The dream started with me waking up in this endless black void that smelled of... what I can only think to describe as wet dog, hot garbage, and sulfur." Paul expounded further, his voice still audibly raw from sleep.

"God, _ew..._ " Emma muttered, earning a nod of agreement from Paul.

"Yeah, it was really fucking gross," he said, shaking his head for emphasis. "Anyways, so I'm floating in this void, when suddenly I heard this horrible maniacal cackling coming from... _somewhere_ in the distance, growing closer and closer by the second. And before I knew it, I was faced with this _disgusting_ yellow goat thing."

"Can you remember what it looked like?" Emma asked, pressing Paul to continue.

 _"Vividly,"_ Paul replied with a slow nod, his eyes wide as though he would've rather _not_ remembered it. He sat up a little bit more, as though preparing himself for another info-dump of sorts. "He was around seven feet tall, which is a good foot taller than _me_ , I might add. He had a wide, _gaping_ mouth full of crooked teeth with his tongue hanging out the side of it, and his breath was _rank._ His eyes were this glassy shade of blue, and they almost looked glazed over. And finally, his fur was super scruffy and ragged, and it was glowing with this gross pissy shade of yellow."

"Was it like a regular goat, or was it bipedal?" Emma inquired.

"Bipedal," Paul answered. "Anyways, the goat thing then quote-un-quote _'congratulated'_ me on 'learning his little brother's secret', and said that he wanted to to give us a push in the right direction to 'make the game more interesting'."

"His little brother?" Emma echoed back to him. "Y'think he could've been talking about Wiggog Y'rath?"

Paul shrugged. "I dunno who _else_ he could be referring to," he said, rolling his head around on his shoulders as though trying to crack his neck. "Though I _do_ wonder what he meant by _'the game'_..."

"Yeah, that's fuckin' freaky as shit," Emma agreed. "Continue on."

"After that, the goatman presented me with this weird, cryptic riddle," Paul explained, looking to Emma. "Mind if I recite it for the audience?"

"Please do." Emma complied, and Paul began to recall the riddle.

_"To move on to the game's next round,_  
_a man who's lost must soon be found._  
_Though a friend's face he may wear,_  
_his mind is sadly not all there._  
_When you ask he'll answer well,_  
_and start you on your path to Hell."_

The two paused, appearing to ponder the riddle in silence. I honestly couldn't muster up any thoughts on it, since I had no clues to work with. It was just cryptic _nonsense_ to me. Though if I absolutely _had_ to take a guess, I suppose my interpretation of the riddle would be that Paul and Emma would have to find a missing person, and ask him about the names on the stone tablets. Emma spoke up.

" _'Though a friend's face he may wear, his mind is sadly not all there'_..." she repeated, catching Paul's attention. "The only person we know who fits _that_ description is Hidgens."

"But that can't be right," Paul muttered, absentmindedly drumming his fingers on the mattress with a stumped expression on his face. "After all, Hidgens isn't _'lost'_ , and he seemed just as clueless about all this as we were."

"Good point," Emma conceded. "Did anything else happen in the dream?"

Paul shook his head. "The goatman just cackled and vanished in a puff of smoke, and that's when I woke up," he replied, sounding a little defeated. He glanced towards the camera, an intrigued gleam in his tired eyes. "But I think I have an idea as to which name from the tablets I was speaking to, if that means anything?"

"Uh, it means fucking _everything!?_ " Emma replied, sounding almost _offended_ at the idea that this knowledge wouldn't be important. "Do tell."

"I think it was T'noy Karaxis." Paul said, running his hand through his bedhead.

"How come?" Emma pressed further.

"Well, you remember the symbol on the tablet corresponding to that name, right? It was a cube with goat horns sprouting from it!" Paul explained, moving his hands to his head as though mimicking horns coming from his temples. Honestly, now that Paul mentioned it, I felt kinda stupid for not realizing it earlier. "I'm not sure about the significance of the cube, but the goat horns are a dead giveaway."

As Paul finished his theory, both he and Emma yawned simultaneously. I kinda wished they hadn't done that, because then it made _me_ yawn, and then subsequently realize that I was watching this at around 5 AM. I made a mental note to get some sleep after this video ended.

" _Maybe_ 3 AM isn't a great time to be discussing theories, babe..." Emma muttered drowsily.

"Yeah, you're right," Paul agreed, once again rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Why don't we get some rest, so we can keep theorizing after work?"

Emma set the camera down, the view shifting towards the foot of the bed with the raised areas of blanket covering the couples' legs visible. "Sounds like a plan," Emma complied. "Now shut the lamp off, and get your head in my lap."

"Pardon?" Paul asked. Though his face was no longer on camera, I could still _easily_ picture the befuddled look on his face.

"Paul, I know you," Emma began, her voice both firm and comforting. "I know you have trouble falling back asleep when you have nightmares. You like it when I stroke your hair, and you've got bedhead that I've been _dying_ to mess with. And that's what I'm gonna do until you pass the fuck out again."

Paul chuckled, sounding a little caught off-guard. "You can be very persuasive, babe," he quipped. "Alright, just gimme a se- _oh...?_ "

"What?" Emma asked.

"I think you left the camera on, Emma." Paul replied, audibly stifling laughter.

"Ah, _damn it,_ " Emma groaned in annoyance. The camera shifted in place- as though she'd just grabbed it again, and the view of the foot of the bed was soon blocked by a hand. "Now I gotta take the time to edit this part out when I upload the video tomorrow!"

"Eh, keep it!" Paul exclaimed, his voice lighthearted and humorous despite how raw it was. The faint light that shone through Emma's hand disappeared, and there was a sudden _thump_. As though Paul had just turned the lamp off, and flopped down onto the mattress. "No one's gonna give a shit!"

Emma giggled drowsily. "Alrighty then!"

The video ended, allowing me to put my phone away and get some rest of my own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	10. The Past Two Weeks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of three clips documenting the events that took place in the two weeks after Paul's dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, we're back in business! I know I said I'd be uploading _two_ new things during my break, but I suddenly realized that I didn't wanna write a Paulkins oneshot collection as badly as I thought I did :/ Maybe some other time. Anyways, on with the chapter!

**_"We haven't posted anything in the past two weeks because our investigation came to a screeching halt. A few significant things happened in that time, one of which being this phone call between Emma and Professor Hidgens from the afternoon following my nightmare that you're about to hear._**  
**_~ Paul"_**

That message was the first thing I saw when I started the tenth video in the playlist up, after getting a few hours of rest of course. My binge-watching session had resumed well into the evening, and I was groggy but still eager. I wanted to know how this would all progress. I felt _obligated_. Instead of cutting to, say, a shot of Paul and Emma's living room or even Hidgens's study, the screen remained black while the audio played. Captions appeared onscreen, transcribing what was being said.

 ** _*dial tone, phone picks up*_**  
**HIDGENS:** Hello?  
**EMMA:** Hey, professor. It's Emma.  
**HIDGENS:** Ah, Emma! Good to hear from you, dear! Any luck in your investigation?  
**EMMA:** Kind of? But before I get to that, how have things been going on your side of the search? Is the Wiggly doll giving you any trouble?  
**HIDGENS:** Things are going swimmingly! I've actually made quite the discovery about the microorganisms in the doll's stuffing. Namely, I believe the ones found in the doll you two brought me to be dead.  
**EMMA:** Huh, interesting... They must've died when we ripped it's head off, then...  
**HIDGENS:** That's exactly what I've been thinking!  
**EMMA:** Well, that's reassuring, anyways. If they're dead, that should mean they won't be able to affect you the way they did me and Paul. Anything else?  
**HIDGENS:** Unfortunately, no. I'm not completely sure there's much else to inspect within the doll, but I'll continue looking just in case. Now, how're things going with you and Paul? You said you've "kind of" been having luck in your search, what does that mean?  
**EMMA:** Oh, right! So, Paul had this freaky nightmare, and we're pretty positive it relates to our case.  
**HIDGENS:** How so?  
**EMMA:** Basically, Paul met this goat monster in his dream, and it implied that it was the older brother of Wiggog Y'rath.  
**HIDGENS:** My god... That would imply that the beings from these tablets have a familial connection, then...  
**EMMA:** Pretty much, yeah. And what's more, it gave him this riddle. It went something like, _"To move on to the game's next round, a man who's lost must soon be found. Though a friend's face he may wear, his mind is sadly not all there. When you ask he'll answer well, and start you on your path to Hell"_. Since the creature was a goat monster, Paul and I are thinking it might've been T'noy Karaxis, the name on the tablet with the goat-horned cube.  
**HIDGENS:** Extraordinary... How's Paul holding up after all this?  
**EMMA:** I managed to net him about three more hours of sleep before he had to leave for work. He still seemed pretty exhausted when he kissed me goodbye, though.  
**HIDGENS:** I see...  
**EMMA:** I have a question, professor. You're sure you didn't know anything about all this... business before we gave you the tablets, right?  
**HIDGENS:** All I know is what you've told me, and what I've found in my studies of the tablets and the Wiggly doll.  
**EMMA:** Hm. Yeah, I figured as much. Thanks anyway.  
**HIDGENS:** Anytime, dear! I'll see you at today's lecture.  
**EMMA:** Talk to you then.  
**_*hangs up, call ends*_**

The video then cut to, well, _actual video_. Specifically, that of Paul pacing back and forth in the living room of his and Emma's abode, looking anxious and perhaps a little deep in thought. Emma was presumably holding the camera. A caption that read _"May 21st"_ appeared onscreen, only for it to promptly vanish once Emma spoke up.

"What'cha thinkin' about, babe?" she asked.

Paul stopped pacing. "Ted." he replied simply, answering nothing for me.

"For those of you in the audience," Emma began to expound. "Ted is Paul's horny bastard of a co-worker who likes to hit on me and the other baristas when he comes to Beanies, and he probably whacks off in his office."

Well, that's _two_ new bits of info for me. Ted is an asshole, and Emma is apparently a barista.

"Oh no, he _definitely_ whacks off in his office," Paul muttered, giving me more information than I ever really _wanted_ to know about this Ted guy. All in the span of one sentence. That's honestly _impressive._ Paul continued on. "Anyways, I'm thinking about Ted because he... hasn't shown up for work in a few days."

"Whoa, really!?" Emma exclaimed, surprised. "No _wonder_ he hasn't come to Beanies lately, Zoey and I just figured he'd finally taken the hint and fucked off..."

Paul shook his head. "Last I saw him, I told him I'd forgotten to print out and hand in my weekly reports, and I asked if he could do that for me," he explained, tapping his fists together nervously. "He agreed, left to go do that, and then I... never heard back from him."

 _"Shit..."_ Emma gaped breathlessly.

"This happened when we were at The Birdhouse the other night, so he _might've_ been a little hammered." Paul continued, looking a little sheepish.

"Wait, back up," Emma said, sounding caught off-guard. "You sent your _drunk_ co-worker down to CCRP in the dead of night to go and print shit!?"

Paul stammered, his eyes widening in shock. "I-I called him an Uber!"

"Was the Uber driver _there_ when Ted left the bar?" Emma pressed further, an argumentative tone to her voice.

"...I don't know."

_"Paul!"_

Paul winced, and his fists began to tap faster. "L-look, I _know_ it sounds bad-"

"Paul, Ted's not exactly a responsible drinker," Emma huffed in disbelief. "He could've very well gotten himself hurt while waiting for the Uber driver to arrive!"

That appeared to give Paul pause, and he began to wring at the untied tie hanging from the collar of his shirt with his fists. The implications of Emma's words were _clearly_ causing him distress. Emma seemed to realize this when Paul didn't say anything in response, choosing instead to pull at his tie. She cleared her throat awkwardly and spoke up.

"I-I'm sorry, Paul," she said remorsefully, her voice small. "That probably wasn't what you needed to hear..."

"It-it's fine..." Paul stuttered in a tone that indicated it was most definitely _not_ fine. Even so, he appeared to calm down a bit, dropping his restless hands from his tie and resuming his prior fist tapping. He inhaled deeply, and released the breath. "But the whole thing has me thinking about the riddle from my dream."

"How come?"

" _'A man who's lost must soon be found'_ , _'Though a friend's face he may wear'_ , _'When you ask he'll answer well'_?" Paul recited, as though trying to remind Emma.

 _"...Huh..."_ she simply replied, realization in her tone. "Okay, there's a _lot_ to take in there..."

Paul shot his eyebrows up, nodding with a huff of humorless laughter. "Tell me about it..."

There was a long beat of silence before Emma spoke up again. "Okay, so what I'm getting from this is that we need to find Ted, ask him about T'noy Karaxis, and he'll just... _know_ what we're talking about?" she recapped.

"That's what I think," Paul responded with a nod. He appeared to have calmed down from his earlier nervousness. "But the question still stands. Where the hell did Ted even _go?_ "

Another long period of silence as the two appeared to ponder the answer to that question. Then, the screen cut to black, and another message from Paul appeared onscreen.

 ** _"And that's where our search stagnated for a while. We had no clue where Ted could've gone, and we debated putting a pin in the T'noy Karaxis case and moving on to another one of the tablets. But then May 28th happened, and Emma filmed this next clip._**  
**_~ Paul"_**

The video then cut to a shot of Emma sitting on the couch, holding the camera and pointing it at herself. The room was dim, but her face was well illuminated by the light of a laptop screen, the contents of which were reflected in a pair of reading glasses that rested upon the bridge of her nose. She began to monologue.

"Right, so uh... Sorry for the radio silence?" she began with a bashful smile, her eyes darting between the camera lens and her lap. "Turns out juggling community college, a minimum wage coffee shop job, and solving a conspiracy involving your boyfriend's asshole co-worker's disappearance and a smelly goat god is a lot harder than you'd think!"

Emma laughed, shaking her head at what I presumed to be the absurdity of that sentence before continuing. "We kinda hit a brick wall in the search, but other than that, we're... _fine,_ I guess?" she explained, and I could hear her drumming her nails on something out of frame. "I finished my semester for the year, so hopefully that means more updates? Paul hasn't come home yet, he just got off work and he's getting take-out now. Uh, he said he's prolly gonna stitch our last couple of recordings together for an update video, just so the fifty or so people who've subscribed to our channel don't think we... fucking died or something..."

Just as Emma finished speaking, the sound of a lock clicked offscreen. Her gaze shifted away from the camera, and her once-tired expression brightened. She panned the camera around, revealing Paul walking in through the front door with two plastic bags containing take-out boxes in hand. I was able to catch a glimpse of the other side of the door before Paul shut it, a well-lit hallway with another door just _barely_ in view. I finally had my confirmation that they lived in an apartment, which I was more excited about than I probably should've been. Paul appeared noticeably out of breath as he entered, as though he'd been in a rush to arrive home.

"Speak of the goddamn devil, hey babe!" Emma greeted him happily. "I was just filming a 'We're Not Dead!' update for the channel."

"Emma, you're not gonna believe this," Paul huffed, looking up at the camera with an excited glint in his eyes. "But I found a fucking lead."

"What!?"

And then, just as things were getting interesting, the video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and it's cliffhanger! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	11. we make a game plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul explains his lead in the T'noy Karaxis case, and the two devise a plan.

The next video began with a shot of Paul sitting at the couple's kitchen table, a paper plate holding a few chicken wings sat in front of him. He wore the same outfit he'd been wearing when he entered the apartment in the final segment of the last video, minus the tie and suit jacket. Which honestly didn't _seem_ like the smartest decision in the world, considering his shirt was a spotless white and the wings on his plate were _slathered_ in what looked to be barbecue sauce. Even _if_ his sleeves were rolled up, Paul was just _asking_ for a stained shirt here. Anyways, he was polishing off the remains of a drumstick in his hand as Emma spoke up behind the camera.

"Sorry about the cliffhanger there, folks," she said. "The memory card filled up on us right as Paul dropped _that_ little bombshell."

Paul set his chicken bone down on the plate, taking a moment to wipe the sauce from his hands with a napkin. Unfortunately, he failed to notice a _tiny_ little smudge of barbecue on the tip of his nose, and set the napkin down without cleaning it. I knew _that_ was going to drive me nuts the entire video. "I could just stitch this new recording onto the other one in editing, y'know." he pointed out.

"Fuck no, dude, make this clip it's own video," Emma shot back in a dry- but still clearly teasing tone. "It'll create arbitrary suspense."

Paul chuckled, shaking his head with a fond smile. "Alright, if you say so."

"Now, about this lead you found?" Emma prompted him.

"Right, so I didn't learn anything about Ted's whereabouts," Paul began, getting that very same excited spark in his eyes that he got while explaining his theory about Wiggog Y'rath several videos back. "But I _might've_ encountered someone who knows something about T'noy Karaxis. The Homeless Man."

"You mean the one who's always going back and forth between hanging around Beanies and CCRP?" Emma asked. This was _clearly_ some kinda well-known bit of Hatchetfield lore that I wasn't privy to, if her knowing tone was any indication.

"The very same," Paul replied with a nod. "When I left Buddy's Wing Hut with our take-out, I saw him sitting in the alleyway outside. He was muttering something under his breath and smearing... some kinda red substance on the wall of the wing joint."

"Jesus fucking _Christ_ , Paul!" Emma exclaimed, sounding just as taken aback as I was by the casual tone in which he revealed such a _gruesome_ detail.

"I know that sounds bad, but it didn't look or smell like blood," Paul quickly clarified, picking up another wing from his plate. "It could've _easily_ just been some hot wing sauce he managed to snag from the dumpster."

"God, I sure fucking _hope_ so..." Emma sighed in relief.

"Anyways," Paul continued before taking a bite of his wing. Thankfully, he swallowed his bite of food before speaking again. "It looked like he was trying to draw something with the maybe-blood, maybe-hot sauce. I got a little closer, and it was the _exact same marking_ from T'noy Karaxis's stone tablet. I managed to hear what he was muttering, too. Something like _'The Box, The Box, The Box'_ , over and over again."

"Shit..." Emma huffed through what sounded like a mouthful of food. I could hear her swallow before continuing. "What'd you do next?"

"I stood there for a while, trying to figure out what to make of what I was watching," Paul replied, gesturing around with his piece of chicken for... emphasis? "Then he noticed me and freaked out. Before I could ask him anything, he yelled at me to stay away and bolted. I was too frazzled to go after him."

"Did you get a picture of the marking he drew?" Emma asked, sounding urgent.

Paul's face lit up with a smile, like he'd been _waiting_ for Emma to ask that. "As a matter of fact, I did!"

Paul set his partially-eaten wing down on his plate, and wiped his hands down with a napkin once more. He still didn't notice the sauce on his nose, though. Anyways, he reached down under the table, and pulled his phone out. He tapped around on the screen for a second before displaying it towards the camera. The lens took a second to struggle focusing on the image, but the view soon cleared up. The picture on the iPhone's screen (clearly taken with the flash on) showed the wall of a brick alleyway, the painted-white bricks appearing stained with grime. But that's not the only thing that stained the wall. Just as Paul had said, the goat-horned cube from the tablet bearing the name of T'noy Karaxis was messily smeared on the bricks. My stomach lurched as I realized the deep red makeshift paint _did_ look more like blood than it did wing sauce, and I wondered if maybe Paul _knew_ that and only told Emma it was sauce to avoid freaking her out. After several seconds, Paul set his phone back down on the kitchen table.

"So, what do you think we should do with this info, Em?" he inquired.

" _Hmm..._ I think..." Emma hummed in contemplation. "I think... we should track this guy down, and see if we can get an interview with him."

"An interview?" Paul echoed curiously.

"Yeah!" Emma exclaimed, sounding a bit more enthused by her idea. "We can invite him here with the offer of a real meal and a warm place to sleep for the night, as long as he agrees to answer our questions!"

Paul grimaced. "That sounds... _kinda_ scummy, don't you think?"

"A little, but what other options do we have?" Emma retorted.

Paul appeared to ponder that for a second, before slowly nodding. "I suppose you've got a point..." he said, still looking and sounding a little reluctant. He looked to the camera. "Alright, so how do we go about this?"

"Well, first of all, I think only _one of us_ should go and track him down," Emma explained. "If we both approach him, we might scare him away, and _that_ won't do us any good."

"I think it should be you," Paul suggested with utmost certainty in his voice. "You're more assertive, and you're _way_ better at initiating conversations with strangers than I am."

"Fine with me." Emma complied.

Paul's eyes darted to his lap for a second. "Also..."

"Also what?"

"The guy kinda freaks me out." Paul admitted sheepishly.

"Because of the thing in the alley?" Emma pressed him.

"N-no, it's something else," Paul replied with a shake of his head. "I can't put my finger on it, though."

There was a long, uncomfortable stretch of silence before Emma spoke up again. "Well, we have our plan laid out," she said, sounding unsure how to properly respond to Paul's admission. "So why don't we just finish our food before it gets cold?"

The corners of Paul's mouth quirked up slightly, though his eyes still appeared nervous. He picked up his once-bitten wing from earlier. "That... that sounds good."

"Good," Emma said with satisfaction before casually adding on: "You've had barbecue sauce on your nose this _entire_ video, by the way."

Paul's eyes widened in surprise as his wing fell from his hand and back onto the plate, earning a mischievous fit of giggles from Emma. He grabbed his napkin and rubbed it across the tip of his nose. He pulled it away, staring at the napkin with befuddlement for a moment before looking back up at Emma, the surprise in his eyes replaced with a playful gleam. Emma continued to laugh at him.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he asked in mock-annoyance, his smile revealing his _real_ feelings on the situation.

"I was waiting to see if you'd notice on your own!" Emma replied before dissolving into another bout of giggling.

Paul groaned in what was perhaps the most _exaggerated_ show of irritation I'd ever seen, still grinning broadly. "You're the _worst!_ " he exclaimed.

"You've already said you love me, there's no take-backs." Emma stated matter-of-factly, audibly struggling to stifle any further laughter.

Paul snorted, shaking his head as he looked down at his plate. "Touche."

The video ended there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Low-key kinda hungry for wings now, ngl. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated.


	12. Interview with the Homeless Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul and Emma invite the mysterious Homeless Man over to ask him what he knows about T'noy Karaxis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so uh... Trigger warning for explicitly mentioned self-harm in this chapter, just a heads-up. Also implied masturbation, I guess?

The next video began with a shot of a bubbling pot of soup on a stovetop, a wooden spoon sticking out of it. I'm no soup expert, but based on the contents of the pot that I could see (cooked cubes of some kinda meat, chopped carrots and celery, some minced garlic, and diced tomatoes in a dark broth), it was likely some kinda beef and vegetable soup. Steam rose from the pot, fogging up the camera lens. The camera's view then swiveled around, showing Paul holding it and pointing it at his face. His expression as he spoke up wasn't as nervous as usual, as though he was growing more accustomed to appearing on camera.

"Uh, hi! I'm not great at intros, that's Emma's forte. But, uh..." Paul began, before cutting himself off to chuckle uncomfortably. He brought a hand up to scratch at his temple. "Emma is currently out looking for the Homeless Man so we can ask him about T'noy Karaxis. I've been prepping the place for his arrival."

Paul then panned the camera back around to show the pot of soup again. "As you can see, I've started work on dinner, it's my mom's old beef and vegetable soup recipe," he explained, his tone flat and rambling. He turned the camera back around so it was facing him once more. "I've already tidied up the guest room, and gotten a spare toothbrush out for him."

 _"Uh, is that all, what else did I do...?"_ he then muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on something out of frame. His eyes lit up with remembrance as they made contact with the camera again. " _Oh!_ And I've readied the steamer I use for my suits so I can clean his jacket at some point. If this seems like too much for some guy we don't know, it _probably_ is, but we're just trying to be hospitable."

The screen then abruptly cut to black, and for a moment I thought my computer had died mid-video. But sound soon came in through my headphones, and captions appeared on screen to transcribe it. I knew what was happening. This was another audio recording.

 **PAUL:** Alright folks, it is currently Thursday, May 29th, 2019, at 6:41 PM. This is Paul, and I'm here with Emma-  
**EMMA:** Yo.  
**PAUL:** -and our guest, who is currently sitting across from us at our kitchen table. He has agreed to let us interview him, and record the audio.  
**EMMA:** Are you ready to begin the interview, sir?  
**[beat as HM swallows mouthful of soup]**  
**HM:** ...Yes.

The Homeless Man's voice was deep and shaky, maybe even a little strained. He sounded quite a bit older than Paul and Emma, possibly in his 50's.

 **EMMA:** Great! Now first thing's first, can we get your name?  
**HM:** _No!_ I-I mean... You don't wanna know my name...  
**PAUL:** Why not?  
**HM:** Just trust me, you're not _ready_ to learn my name.  
**[beat]**  
**PAUL:** Okay...? Uh, then let's get right to the important questions. ***clears throat*** So, that symbol you were drawing on the wall of Buddy's Wing Hut, the cube with goat horns sprouting out of it? I have two questions about that. One, what is it? And two, why were you drawing it with, uh...?  
**HM:** My blood?  
**EMMA: *to Paul*** I thought you said it was fucking wing sauce, dude!  
**PAUL:** I-I didn't wanna worry you! ***to HM*** So anyways, why were you drawing that symbol with your blood, sir?  
**HM:** He makes me do it. He makes me cut my palms and draw His mark on the walls. ***he gestures around with his hands, which are wrapped in gauze*** That's why I asked for the bandages when I arrived with Emma.  
**EMMA:** Would this _"He"_ you're referring to happen to be T'noy Karaxis?  
**HM:** Yes.  
**PAUL:** And what about the symbol? What is it, and how does it relate to T'noy Karaxis?  
**HM:** That's the Bastard Box, where Tinky keeps all of his favorite toys.  
**EMMA: *snorts*** I'm sorry, it's the _what_ box belonging to _who_ now?  
**[HM stands up, slamming his hands on the table, Paul and Emma startle]**  
**HM:** You think this is some sort of joke!?  
**EMMA:** I-I'm sorry, sir, I-  
**HM:** Tinky is a being of terrifying power, and I've had to witness that power first-hand across every timeline! Every _dimension!_ You can't even _begin_ to imagine what I've been through, you empty-headed woman!  
**PAUL:** _Hey!_ Don't talk to her like that, or you can consider yourself unwelcome after this interview!  
**[beat, HM sits back down]**  
**HM:** My apologies. It's just a... a very sensitive topic for me.  
**EMMA:** It-it's fine, it's whatever. I'm sorry for joking about it. Let's continue.  
**PAUL:** Yeah, let's... Okay, before we get back to the _really_ important stuff, I have to clarify something real quick. Is _"Tinky"_ like a shortened form of _"T'noy Karaxis"_?  
**HM:** Yes.  
**EMMA:** Interesting... So a new pattern is beginning to emerge... Both beings we've encountered so far have _"nicknames"_ that are childish-sounding words derived from their real, more appropriately Lovecraftian full name... Now, what exactly did you mean by _"every dimension"_?  
**HM:** It's... complicated. When I died in a separate timeline, I became Tinky's prisoner of time. He likes to place different versions of me across different dimensions, it's like a game to Him. In most dimensions, I end up the same. Unless the apocalypse comes before it has a chance to happen, I go back in time to 2004 in an attempt to fix my miserable life, only to end up... like _this_ because of His influence...  
**PAUL:** Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on! This is... _a lot_ to take in, sir!  
**HM:** Imagine how _I_ feel...  
**EMMA:** Can you elaborate on the "going back in time" thing? How exactly do you accomplish that?  
**HM:** Is it relevant to your case?  
**[beat, Paul and Emma look to each other]**  
**EMMA:** I mean, I _guess_ not? At least not currently?  
**HM: *voice breaking*** Then I'd like to avoid talking about it any further, please.  
**PAUL:** O-okay, sir...  
**HM:** But there _is_ something I _have_ noticed about this dimension that's different from the others... Time seems more flexible here. Things seem to happen in a different order, fewer constants that I've noticed.  
**EMMA:** Constants, sir?  
**PAUL:** Like what?  
**HM:** Well, like... ***his eyes widen, and he points at Emma*** _You!_ Are you a robot!?  
**PAUL:** Excuse me!?  
**EMMA:** The fuck!? _No!_  
**HM:** Prove it!  
**EMMA:** Wh- I- How do I-? ***groans***  
**[Emma grabs a piece of paper that we were taking notes on, and makes a small cut on her left thumb. The cut begins to bleed, and Emma shows HM]**  
**EMMA:** There! Blood! Robots don't bleed, right?  
**[beat]**  
**HM:** Okay, you're human...  
**EMMA: *muttering*** Yeah, I sure as shit _am..._ ***normal volume, to Paul*** Pause the interview, I gotta go get a band-aid...  
**[cut, Emma returns]**  
**EMMA:** ...Okay, I'm back. Now, here's another question for you, sir. What are these _"favorite toys"_ of Tinky's that you mentioned?  
**HM:** Everything that ever was, is, or will be.  
**PAUL:** What exactly does that _look like?_  
**HM:** You don't wanna know.  
**EMMA:** Noted, thank you so much. So, you _do_ know what's inside this Bastard Box, then?  
**HM:** Yes. When I'm not being placed into different dimensions for Tinky's amusement, I'm forced to wander the infinite void of the Bastard Box. My only company are His Sniggles.  
**PAUL:** "Sniggles", you say?  
**HM:** Yes.  
**EMMA: *to Paul*** Is that relevant?  
**PAUL:** Possibly, I just... remind me to check something on YouTube later, okay?  
**HM:** Do you have anymore questions for me?  
**PAUL:** Yes, just one more! During my own encounter with T'noy Karaxis, he gave me this riddle, and we'd like to know if it means anything to you.  
**HM:** What is it?  
**PAUL:** It goes like, _"To move on to the game's next round, a man who's lost must soon be found. Though a friend's face he may wear, his mind is sadly not all there. When you ask he'll answer well, and start you on your path to Hell"_.  
**[several long beats of silence]**  
**EMMA:** Does that mean anything to you, sir?  
**[another beat]**  
**HM:** ...No, I'm sorry.  
**EMMA:** That's alright, sir. Maybe the riddle was a red herring or something?  
**PAUL: *muttering*** ...Yeah, maybe...  
**EMMA: *to Paul*** You okay, babe?  
**PAUL:** ...Y-yeah, I'm fine... This concludes our interview.

So that interview gave me _a lot_ to comprehend within the span of a few minutes. But just when I thought the video would end so I could properly stop to think about it all, it cut to footage of Emma sitting in what I recognized as the couple's shared bedroom. She sat on the bed, donning a white tank top and a pair of shorts. She gave the camera that ever-familiar smile as she spoke up.

"Alright, so it's about an hour later," she expounded for the audience. "Our guest is in the shower, and has been for... _a while..._ "

Emma paused, as though considering the implications of her words. She shook her head, and looked over to Paul behind the camera. "You think we can trust this guy, babe?" she asked.

Paul sighed. "He's the only lead we got, so we're gonna have to," he replied. "At the very least, the info about T'noy Karaxis being called _'Tinky'_ seems to line up with Wiggog Y'rath being called _'Wiggly'_ , so there's gotta be _some_ semblance of truth to what he said."

"It's just a lot to think about..." Emma huffed, drumming her nails on the mattress. She glanced down at her hand, appearing to eye the band-aid on her thumb. "I'm still a little freaked out by the robot thing."

"Yeah, what the fuck _was_ that?"

"If he _is_ telling the truth about this alternate dimension stuff, does that mean there's at least one timeline where I'm a robot?"

"I hope not."

"Yeah, me neither," Emma eyed Paul with a cheeky smile. "After all, you can't make love to a toaster."

 _"Emma!"_ Paul exclaimed, sounding flustered.

The couple busted up laughing, a welcome moment of respite after the absolute _rollercoaster_ that was the interview portion of the video. Emma looked back up at the camera, still smiling from her earlier remark.

"We're gonna leave off here, folks," she said. "If we think of anymore questions for our guest, we'll ask him in the morning. Bye!"

And with a wave, the video ended there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's hoping that this was even _slightly_ comprehensible! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated.


	13. T'noy Karaxis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul and Emma receive a surprise visit in the dead of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Nother heads up, there's a... _slightly_ graphic description of a character vomiting in this chapter.

**_"WARNING: The contents of this video may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised. You might want to turn your volume down."_**

Another content warning, just like the one from the first Wiggog Y'rath video. But this time with a _volume warning_. I was never the type to ignore that kind of thing in videos. Some people seem to take volume warnings as a personal challenge, and crank the sound _way_ up. But volume warnings are usually there for a good reason, so I tend to heed them when they show up. This time was no exception, as I lowered my volume just as the content warning vanished from the screen. Not too much, just enough where I'd still be able to hear what was going on.

When the video cut to _actual_ recorded footage, it showed a room shrouded in darkness, moonlight filtering in through a window. The silver light revealed the camera being pointed at a comforter with a floral pattern, the very same on Paul and Emma's bed. But that wasn't the most attention grabbing thing about the clip. Because the _moment_ the video properly began, the sound of someone _screaming bloody murder_ from another room assaulted my ears through my headphones. It was vaguely muffled, but still _jarringly_ loud.

_"N-no, NO! Not again, PLEASE!"_

Just then, an arm reached out from behind the camera. From the skin tone I could tell it was Emma's. The camera shifted slightly to the left, revealing a softly snoring lump under the covers. A head of tousled brown hair poked out from the top, undeniably Paul's. The guy must be a _pretty_ heavy sleeper, because even _with_ my volume turned down, the screaming was a bit too loud for me. I could also see a digital clock, presumably sitting on the nightstand. The display was just _barely_ readable, revealing that it was 3:30 AM. Emma's arm began to jostle Paul's sleeping form, all while the voice from the other room continued to scream.

"Paul, Paul get up." she said, her tone urgent.

_"Mmm..."_ Paul groaned irritably, his eyes still visibly squeezed shut.

"Wake the fuck _up_ , Paul!"

Emma gave Paul's side a sharp jab, startling him awake mid-snore. "Wha-huh?" he exclaimed, drowsy and delirious as he looked around the room frantically. "Wha-what's happening?"

"God, PLEASE! LEAVE ME ALONE, _JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!_ " the voice continued to wail from elsewhere in the house.

Paul jerked up, looking _significantly_ more awake than he did mere moments ago. "The hell is that!?"

"It's the Homeless Guy, Paul!" Emma explained quickly. "Something's happening in the guest room!"

Without another word, the two hastily scrambled out of bed and out of the room. The darkness of the apartment made the visuals hard to make out, but they appeared to be running down a short hallway. As they got closer and closer to the guest room, the fearful cries of the Homeless Man grew ever louder and less muffled. The couple soon reached a closed door with a strange golden glow emitting from beneath it, and Emma began to pound her fist against it.

"Sir, what's going on in there!?" she asked, more _demanding_ than questioning.

"Is that you, Emma!?" the Homeless Man gasped out with absolute _terror_ in his voice. "For the love of god, _PLEASE HELP ME!_ "

Before Emma could even _reach_ for the doorknob, a horrible maniacal cackling rang through the apartment. It was _mind-numbingly_ loud, the sound reverberating in my ears. Paul stumbled back with a gasp, and Emma followed his movement with the camera.

"Th-that's the laugh I heard in my nightmare!" he stammered frightfully. "T'noy Karaxis is _in_ our guest room!"

"Oh, _shit..._ " Emma responded gravely. "Wh-what do we do?"

A different voice spoke up from behind the door. It was wild and buffoonish, like the kind you'd expect the Mad Hatter to have. **"You thought you could get away from me, Teddy Bear?"** it tutted condescendingly before breaking out into another fit of demented laughter. **" _HuhauahuahahahahHAHAHA!_ You're a _FUNNY_ little bastard, AREN'T YA? I'm just gonna borrow your body for a second, _THEN IT'S BACK IN THE FUCKING BOX WITH YOU!_ "**

"No, _PLEASE!_ " the Homeless Man pleaded.

**"Oh, quit your crying!"** T'noy Karaxis scoffed. **_"THIS'LL ONLY HURT A LOT!"_**

With a determined exclamation of _"Alright, fuck this!"_ , Emma rushed to open the door. But once the door flew open, the sight that greeted me was _truly_ vile looking. Looming over the guest bed was a tall, scraggly goat-man. His tangled and matted yellow fur gave off a blindingly bright golden glow that illuminated the room, revealing the Homeless Man sitting upright in the bed, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and some worn-out socks. He was bony and underweight, looking _very_ malnourished, and a scruffy mustache sat upon his lip. The goat-man stared him down with dead, glassy blue eyes, drool dripping from his maw of stained, crooked teeth and onto the bed. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth, swaying side to side. But that's not even the strangest part. As the camera focused on the creature, it seemed to glitch out. The picture flickered and stuttered, like I was watching this on an old, damaged VHS tape. It was like the mere _presence_ of T'noy Karaxis was too much for the camera to handle. The creature's head snapped over to look at Paul and Emma with a sickening _CRACK!_ , and the two let out a frightened yelp.

**" _WEEEEELL_ , if it isn't Tinky's precious little PUPPETS!"** Tinky exclaimed, clapping his hands/hooves together gleefully like an excited child. **"Hello, Paulie Pal! _Emmy Doll!_ How _CLEVER_ of you to solve my little riddle!"**

"Wh-what do you mean!?" Paul demanded, clearly trying to sound confident despite his fear. "I thought the riddle was a red herring to throw us off your scent!"

Tinky cackled once more, throwing his head back with hysterical delight. **"Oh, how _ADORABLE!_ "** he said in an almost _cooing_ manner. **"You STILL haven't caught on yet!"**

Before Paul could respond to that, Emma chimed in. "Look, what the fuck do you want with us!?" she barked, before briefly panning the camera over to the Homeless Man, who was still shaking with fear as he looked up at Tinky. "Or _him_ , for that matter!?"

**"Teddy Bear's my little _TIME BASTARD~!_ "** Tinky not-explained. **"As for you two, my Uncle Wiley found out about my riddle, and he got _REAL MAD!_ He thinks you're learning too much! So I'm here to make the game a little harder for you!"**

The Homeless Man's eyes widened. "N-no, wait-" he began to beg.

**"But I can't touch you myself!"** Tinky faux-pouted. He snapped his gaze back to the Homeless Man with another ear-splitting _CRACK!_ from his neck. **"So I'm gonna let Teddy Bear _RIP YOU BOTH LIMB FROM FUCKING LIMB FOR ME!_ "**

"No, wait! I don't wanna hurt them!" the Homeless Man cried, shaking his head frantically. "They're-"

**"Oh, don't be so _SAD_ , Teddy Bear!"** Tinky sighed in a pale imitation of sympathy. **"Once you're done with them, _THEY'LL JOIN YOU IN THE BASTARD BOX!_ They can keep you and Tinky's widdle Sniggles company! _WON'T THAT BE SUCH FUN, TEDDY BEAR!?_ "**

Before anyone had a chance to protest, Tinky waved his arm and vanished from the room in a puff of smoke, earning a rough coughing fit from Paul, Emma, and the Homeless Man. The camera's glitching ceased, but the golden glow remained in the room. Tinky may have disappeared, but he wasn't _gone_. Emma panned the camera around the room. For a moment, the tension in the room seemed to fade. But then the Homeless Man suddenly gasped, clutching his stomach. His body began to convulse, twitching erratically. Paul and Emma gasped, but remained frozen to their spots. The Homeless Man gagged, his eyes squeezing shut and sweat forming on his brow. And with a hideous retch, he coughed up a viscous, chunky fluid, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the bedsheets. Trembling, the Homeless Man clutched his head in agony.

"S-sir...?" Emma piped up in a small, frightened voice. "Are you-"

_"R-run..."_ the Homeless Man choked out shakily. _"He's c-coming..."_

Suddenly, the Homeless Man's eyes flew open, and they had the same blue, glazed-over look that Tinky's did. His pupils even appeared horizontal, like that of a goat's. He looked up at the camera with a crazed grin, vomit still trickling out from between his clenched teeth. I could hear Paul and Emma's shallow, shaky breathing from behind the camera.

**"It's PLAYTIME~"** the Homeless Man exclaimed, sounding as though he was speaking with two voices at once. His own voice, and that of T'noy Karaxis.

The Homeless Man lurched forward, and Paul and Emma wasted no time in getting the hell out of there. The camera shook as they left the room, and I could hear the door slam shut behind them. But the apartment was still so dark that I couldn't really see what was happening.

"Lock the door, _lock the fucking door!_ " Emma ordered in a panic.

A lamp suddenly flicked on, it's light shining directly at the camera lens. Emma was in the living room, and she had turned the light on. She whirled the camera around, revealing Paul stepping back from the guest room door and into the room, his eyes wide and fearful. Then, a loud _THUD!_ came from the door, and Paul scrambled further into the room. Then another _THUD!_ came. And another. And another. The combined voices of Tinky and the Homeless Man cackled from the locked guest room, muffled but still _painfully_ loud.

**_"If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise~"_** the voices sung dementedly as the Homeless Man continued to pound on the door. _THUD, THUD, THUD_.

Emma panted heavily as Paul joined her by her side. "God, what the fuck..." she choked. I couldn't help but feel her fear. _"What the fuck are we supposed to do!?"_

**_"If you go down to the woods today, you'd better go in disguise~"_** they continued to sing. _THUD, THUD, THUD_.

"I-I... I don't know..." Paul stammered uncertainly.

**_"For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain~"_ **

"...Paul, I'm scared." Emma admitted, and I could've _sworn_ the camera began to shake.

**_"BECAUSE TODAY'S THE DAY THE TEDDY BEARS HAVE THEIR PICNIC~!"_ **

The Homeless Man continued to sing the nursery rhyme-turned-threat, the pounding on the door growing louder and more aggressive. _THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!_

"W-we can't just wait it out," Paul said. "He's gonna break down the door _eventually_."

Just then, Emma gasped. "I have an idea."

"Really? What is it?"

_"Shh!"_ Emma hissed, panning the camera over to Paul. She reached out her hand, pointing behind Paul towards the still-unlit kitchen. He followed where she was pointing with his gaze.

Paul turned back to Emma. _"The fire escape?"_ he mouthed silently with a puzzled expression. A look of realization blossomed on his face. _"You think we should go to Hidgens?"_

There was a pause, as though Emma was nodding in reply. But with a particularly loud _THUD!_ from the door, came the sound of cracking wood and a creaky hinge. The Homeless Man/Tinky broke into a fit of fiendishly childish giggles. The door to the guest room was on the verge of breaking down. Emma panned the camera towards the hallway briefly before turning it back towards Paul, who nodded with a steely, determined expression.

_"I'll get the keys."_ he simply mouthed.

The video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guys know that Teddy Bear's Picnic had more than two verses? _I_ sure as hell didn't until I had to look up the lyrics while writing this! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	14. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After escaping from T'noy Karaxis, Paul and Emma head to Hidgens's manor and go over the plethora of new information the Homeless Man provided them with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who don't follow me on tumblr (@piece-of-caek) and are just keeping up with the story on here, I recently wrote a short drabble _on_ tumblr that takes place between this chapter and the last one. It's not required to understand the plot, but it _does_ clarify what happened with Tinky and the Homeless Man after Paul and Emma left the apartment. I have a couple more of these "between video" drabbles floating around in my head, and those will be posted to my tumblr in the future in the tag "dt drabbles". I _do_ wanna post them on here at some point, but for now they're exclusive to tumblr.

The next video began with a familiar shot, that of a car driving down a road with pine trees lining both sides. This time, however, it was still _clearly_ night out, with the headlights of the car illuminating the path ahead. I recognized this as the road to the home of Professor Hidgens, though with the pitch black darkness it looked _significantly_ more ominous. Though I was still shaken by the events of the last video, the title of _"Aftermath"_ and the lack of a content warning was reassuring. Whoever was holding the camera was sitting in the passenger seat. That "whoever" turned out to be Emma, as she soon spoke up from behind the camera.

"-and I'm _really_ sorry to be inconveniencing you so early in the morning like this, professor," she said, apparently speaking on the phone. She sounded worn out and apologetic, and she gave a shaky exhale before continuing. "But we have nowhere else to go right now. If we go to Tom's place, we could be putting _Tim_ in danger, and-"

"Say no more, dear, I understand _completely_ ," the muffled phone audio of the professor's voice cut her off. "I'll put on a pot of chamomile, and we can discuss what happened."

Emma sighed, relieved. "Thank you _so_ much, professor."

The video cut ahead to the well-lit study area of Professor Hidgens. The man in question was sitting on his burgundy couch in a dark blue satin robe, his eyes tired and framed with dark circles. The view panned over to the left, showing Emma sitting on the couch opposite Hidgens. She was holding a cup of tea, a throw blanket draped over her shoulders. She looked down into her cup with a sigh.

"There's... something that T'noy Karaxis said that's been bugging me." she began.

The camera turned back towards Hidgens, who raised his eyebrows inquisitively. "Implying there was only _one thing_ out of everything you just told me to be bothered by?" he asked in a lighthearted manner. The view shifted back towards Emma, and it would _continue_ to pan back and forth between Emma and Hidgens throughout the entire conversation.

Emma snickered humorlessly. "You know what I meant..." she huffed. "After Paul said that he thought the riddle was a red herring, Tinky just laughed at us and said that we hadn't caught on yet. And I feel like such a _dumbass_ for still not understanding."

_"Hmm..."_ Hidgens hummed curiously. "I think I might have a theory based on the information you've provided me with, but it could be a long-shot."

"Hey, some of our _biggest_ breakthroughs in this case so far have come from total long-shot theories," Paul finally spoke up from behind the camera. "So it's gotta be worth at least _hearing_."

Hidgens nodded and sighed. "Right then, so what was it you said that T'noy Karaxis called the two of you when you entered the guest room?" he inquired.

"Uh, Paulie Pal and Emmy Doll, or something like that?" Emma replied.

"So it would seem to me that T'noy Karaxis likes to give his victims childish or toy-based nicknames, using their _real names_ as a basis," the professor mused. He looked up at the camera with a deadly serious look in his eyes. "And if we take that into consideration with the 'Teddy Bear' nickname he gave this Homeless Man..."

Hidgens paused, and the room went chillingly silent. The implication began to sink in. Not just for Paul and Emma, but for me as well. He couldn't _possibly_ be implying that-

"Y-you think the Homeless Man might be... Ted?" Paul questioned, his voice skeptical but nervous all the same. "N-no. No way. That's impossible. I've _seen_ the Homeless Man while walking to Beanies _with_ Ted!"

"Ah, but consider what he told you about time travel and alternate dimensions!" Hidgens retorted, dramatically pointing his finger skyward. "How T'noy Karaxis likes to place _different versions of himself_ across various dimensions!"

"Y-yeah, but..." Paul tried to fire back. He sounded less skeptical, but still unwilling to accept this theory.

"Paul, I think Hidgens might be onto something here," Emma chimed in. Paul turned the camera back towards her. "If we take what he said about time travel into consideration, it all adds up. Ted's like thirty-five years old right?"

"Wh- yeah?"

"And the Homeless Man- who mentioned being fifty-ish, claimed he went back in time to 2004," Emma continued, her eyes widening as she appeared to further consider her own words. "It's 2019 now, so if he was stuck in 2004 after going back in time, then he would've aged fifteen years. Thirty-five plus fifteen equals _fifty_ , Paul."

"And also!" Hidgens exclaimed. "This theory adds up with the riddle. He wears a friends face, his mind is _clearly_ not all there, and he _did_ answer quite well when you asked him about T'noy Karaxis, did he not?"

Paul gave no reply for quite some time. I could tell he was having trouble processing all this, and I could hardly blame him. Though he and Emma didn't speak about this Ted guy in the most _positive_ light, Paul's nervousness while talking about his disappearance made it clear that the two co-workers _were_ friends in some form or fashion.

"O-okay, okay... okay..." Paul stammered in a small, slightly panicked tone. "Okay, so... what do we do with this information? If the Homeless Man really _is..._ Ted, then wh-what do we do to help him? Tinky threatened to put him back in that Bastard Box thing, and he was still banging on the guest room door when we left."

Hidgens shrugged, oddly nonchalant. "Simple, really," he answered. "We move forward with our investigation."

"That's... kinda cold, Hidge." Emma remarked.

"Ted's my _friend_ , professor!" Paul said, somewhat aghast. "Yeah, he's an obnoxious prick, but I can't just... _leave him_ like that..."

"Well, you saw for yourself what trying to help him did!" Hidgens snapped. He gestured towards Emma beside Paul on the couch. "Look at Emma, she's clearly-"

"I'm fucking _fine_ , Hidgens!" Emma fired back bitingly, obviously offended at the implications of the professor's words. "I've been through hell tonight, but I've hiked through it before. I'll fucking live."

Hidgens gave another sigh, long and deep, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "My apologies, dear," he said before straightening his posture and folding his hands in his lap. "But still, I think it's time to consider that you're both biting off a bit more than you can chew."

A pause. "Professor, are you saying-"

"I think I should take over the investigation from here."

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_ " Paul exclaimed, caught off-guard. "We did _not_ go through what we did with Wiggly and Tinky just to throw in the towel now!"

Paul sounded unsure, almost a little out of his element. Like he'd never been so insistent on sticking with something like this before. A very _bold_ assumption for me to make, I'm aware, but that's just the vibe I got. Hidgens didn't seem persuaded.

"The danger of this case has made itself _quite_ evident, I'd say!" he retorted angrily. "Willingly putting yourselves _in_ said danger would be cruel to your loved ones, no? How would they feel if you two got yourselves _killed_ trying to solve this mystery, huh!?"

"Hidgens, we're not fucking _children!_ " Emma spat. It was clear that she'd had enough. "We can decide for ourselves if shit gets too heavy for us to deal with. And I'm not down for the count yet. I'm sticking with this."

"Me too." Paul added on firmly.

Hidgens appeared to ponder this for a moment before shaking his head with a huff. "I suppose you're right," he conceded. "If you're so dead-set on this, I _do_ have something I've been meaning to suggest that could help the investigation along."

"And what would that be?" Emma pressed him.

"If these... _deities_ are somehow connected to the lore of our town," Hidgens began to explain, tapping his foot against the black and white checkerboard tiles. "Then perhaps a visit to the Hatchetfield Natural History Museum would be beneficial to our search."

"That's... not a bad idea..." Emma mused.

"Yeah, I could get behind that." Paul agreed.

Hidgens gave a loud yawn, stretching his arms before continuing. "Alright, then it's settled!" he declared. "Once the sun rises, we'll take a little trip to the museum and see what we can find."

"But first," Emma chimed in. "We get some _fucking_ sleep."

"Well said, Emma," Hidgens chuckled, standing up. "I'll go ready a spare room for you two."

The video ended there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	15. our landlord is confused as SHIT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul, Emma, and Hidgens are resting up for their impending trip to the Hatchetfield Natural History Museum. But first, a semi-important phone call!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chat-only chapter! Which also means the first chapter with _no_ real narration! These won't be _too_ terribly common, if I'm remembering correctly, there's only two or three more like it.

**_"This is the audio of a phone conversation between me and our building's landlord, Mr. Fleischer. This call occurred about thirty minutes after Paul and I finished our talk with Hidgens."_ **   
**_~ Emma"_ **

**[dial tone, Emma picks up]**  
 **EMMA: *groggily*** Hello?  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** Hey, where the fuck _are_ you guys?  
 **EMMA:** What now?  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** I got like _five calls_ complaining about screaming and weird banging sounds coming from your apartment, but when I got there the place was completely empty.  
 **[beat]**  
 **EMMA:** Completely empty?  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** Yeah.  
 **EMMA:** You're _sure_ there was no one there?  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** _Yeah...?_  
 **EMMA: *sighs*** _Thank fucking god..._  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** Emma, what's going on?  
 **EMMA:** Ernie, tonight has been _a lot_ , and I _really_ can't answer that question right now.  
 **[beat]**  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** Okay... So, uh... where _are_ you and Paul?  
 **EMMA:** We're at my bio professor's house.  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** That clears up absolutely nothing, thank you so much.  
 **EMMA:** Hey, quick question. When you went to check on us, was there anything... _weird_ about the place?  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** Right, that's the other thing I wanted to mention! Uh, so the door to your guest room? Knocked _completely_ off it's hinges. There were trails and puddles of vomit all throughout the apartment, _especially_ in the guest room and living area-  
 **EMMA: *muttering*** _Jesus fucking Christ..._  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** Yeah, and not to mention that the place smelled absolutely _terrible_. I mean, I could pick up the stench from down the hallway!  
 **EMMA: *still muttering*** _God, that's just our fucking luck..._ ***normal volume*** Can you describe the smell?  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** Oh god, I dunno... Something like wet dog, hot garbage, and uh...  
 **EMMA:** Sulfur?  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** That's it!  
 **EMMA:** Yeah... Yeah, that checks out.  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** Emma, what the hell is going _on?_  
 **EMMA:** Ernie, I already told you, _it's not something I can really explain right now._  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** This is important, Emma. Your neighbors are _still_ concerned about the screaming, and the smell is making the people on your floor nauseous. I _need_ to know what's happening.  
 **EMMA:** It's like 4 AM, and I am _not_ in the right state of mind to be explaining this right now. Paul and I will probably be back sometime tomorrow evening, can we tell you then?  
 **[beat]**  
 **MR. FLEISCHER: *sighs*** I mean, I _suppose_ so?  
 **EMMA:** Thank you _so_ much, man. And what about all the vomit and the fucked up door? Should we...?  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** I can send a repairman to fix the door, if that's what you're asking? As for the smell and the vomit, I'm afraid you're on your own there. Sorry.  
 **EMMA:** Well, it's better than nothing, I guess. I gotta get some sleep. I'll talk to you when we get back, okay?  
 **MR. FLEISCHER:** Alright. Bye, then.  
 **EMMA:** Bye.  
 **[phone hangs up, call ends]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was curious, I've been imagining Ernie as Corey Lubowich. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	16. The Hatchetfield Natural History Museum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul, Emma, and Hidgens search the Hatchetfield Natural History Museum for clues, and discover something _very_ useful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Nightmare Time Album Release Eve! I'm not gonna be able to listen to it until it drops on YouTube Music in like a year, so y'all better vibe _extra_ hard for me.

Once again, the next video opened on a perspective shot of Paul and Emma's car driving down a road. But instead of the ever-familiar forest road to Professor Hidgens's manor, this time they appeared to be in a downtown area around late afternoon. As they coasted along down the street, I noticed just how _bustling_ the town was. People were milling about the streets and sidewalks, going in and out of shops and eateries. I wasn't expecting this not-too-big town with a not-too-big population to have _such_ a busy downtown area. The car slowed to a stop at a red light.

"Emma, are you sure you're fit to be driving?" the voice of Professor Hidgens piped up from the backseat of the car. "You didn't get much sleep last night, and you still had to go into work..."

"I'm fine, I've had my coffee." Emma assured him from the driver's seat as Paul panned the camera over to her. She looked _just_ as tired as Hidgens had implied.

"Are you sure?" the professor pressed.

Emma snickered and shook her head. "Hidge, you got your license revoked _years_ ago, you're not driving for me."

Before I could ponder the nature of the incident that would've caused _that_ to happen, Emma shot a quick glance at the camera and smiled. "Good afternoon, folks!" she greeted the viewing audience. "It's May 30th, 2019, at around 5:30 PM, and we're on our way to the Hatchetfield Natural History Museum."

"While we're driving, I have a question for you both." Hidgens said.

Paul whirled the camera around towards the backseat, putting the turtleneck-clad-even-though-it-was-nearly-Summer-when-they-filmed-this Hidgens in the frame. "Yeah?"

"Now, since you both chose not to call in today," the professor began, drumming his fingers on his leg. "While you were headed to work, did you happen to see Ted?"

"No, I didn't." Paul answered with a sigh.

"'Fraid not." Emma replied in turn.

"Hm..." Hidgens muttered. "I figured as much."

"Seeing as how Ernie said the apartment was completely empty when he went to check on us earlier this morning," Emma added on, sounding reluctant. "I don't think it's too unlikely that Tinky made good on his promise and put Ted back in that Bastard Box thing..."

Hidgens gave a curious hum. "I wouldn't rule out the possibility that T'noy Karaxis is trying to trick you into returning to your apartment by imitating your landlord," he suggested. "You _did_ say he could possess people, after all."

"But here's the thing," Emma retorted. "When Tinky possessed Ted, it sounded like he was speaking with both of their voices at the same time. The voice I heard on the other side of the phone was _one-hundred percent_ Ernie Fleischer, no otherworldly goat god to be heard."

Hidgens shrugged. "Fair enough, I suppose..."

The video then cut ahead, and where else would it have cut to but one of the _many_ exhibit rooms of a museum! And much to my surprise, it was a _very_ impressive looking place. Black and white checkerboard flooring- not unlike the floor in Hidgens's home, high ceilings, red velvet ropes surrounding the various pieces of history on display... Very fancy for a small island town in Michigan! The lights overhead even gave the place a golden glow that made the whole room look as though it had been painted in sepia tones. Note to self, check this place out if I ever decide to take a trip to Hatchetfield. Anyways, Hidgens was walking just ahead of the group, his back to the camera.

"Alright, you two," he began. "Keep an eye out for anything that may look occult to you!"

"Aye aye, captain," Paul complied. He panned the camera around for a bit before the view landed on Emma. She looked rather carefree, observing the area with an almost _nostalgic_ little smile. "What'cha thinkin' about?"

Emma appeared to reach out to take Paul's free hand in her own, still looking around the exhibit room. "This is where we had our first date, remember?"

Paul seemed to gasp in realization. "Oh, _yeah!_ " he exclaimed. He then began to snicker. "Do, uh... do you remember that one ancient cave painting on display? The one that the nasally kid acting as our tour guide said depicted a man worshiping the moon? A-and you said-"

"I said 'Dude, that's _clearly_ a man with his boner going up to the moon!'," Emma recalled, her face lighting up.

_"Yeah!"_ Paul huffed out through laughter. "The poor kid got _so_ pissed because you were like the _fifth_ person that day to point it out!"

"Well, did it or did it not look like a guy with his penis touching the moon!?" Emma questioned, playfully defensive.

"No, I'm with you, it _totally_ did!" Paul replied, still laughing.

Emma giggled, and gave a content sigh. "God, that was back in... fucking October?" she mused, shaking her head in disbelief. She looked at Paul softly. "It feels like we've been together so much longer than that!"

"Time flies when you're investigating the paranormal, I guess!" Paul quipped, his laughter calming down.

"You two are very sweet, and I'm incredibly happy for you," Hidgens suddenly chimed in, interrupting their banter. "But can we _please_ focus on the task at hand?"

" _Oh!_ Uh, yeah..." Emma responded, her content expression replaced with a more bashful one. "Sorry, professor..."

Paul panned the camera back towards Hidgens. "No, it's quite alright," the professor assured her. He briefly peered over his shoulder. "After all is said and done, I _would_ like to see this painting you two were talking about."

The video cut ahead once more, this time showing an old, rusted hatchet in a glass display case. I could just _barely_ see Paul's reflection in the glass. For a moment, I wondered what the significance of this shot was, but then...

"Paul, Hidgens!" Emma called, sounding as though she was on the other side of the room. "Come check this out!"

Paul swiveled the camera around, showing that indeed, Emma was looking at a _different_ display case on the other side of the room. He rushed over, and Hidgens came in from a different direction to join them. The camera panned over to show what Emma had been looking at. An old, tattered length of twine, tied into a noose. It looked like it had seen better days. It was frayed, and covered in little brown specks resembling dried blood. It even appeared a little _scorched_ in places.

"What is it?" Paul asked.

"It says here that it's the rope supposedly used to hang Willabella Muckwab back in 1824." Emma explained. Paul pointed the camera at her, showing that she was looking down at a plaque in front of the display.

"The Muck Witch?" Hidgens inquired.

Emma gave an exasperated roll of her eyes. "No, the dairy farmer," she deadpanned sarcastically before snapping her gaze over to the professor. " _Yes,_ the Muck Witch, Hidgens!"

Hidgens stepped back with an apologetic murmur before Emma looked back down at the plaque. "Listen to this," she said, clearing her throat. _"When the noble founders of Hatchetfield thwarted a supposed attempt to summon a quintuple of demonic entities called_ 'The Lords in Black'- _conducted by one Willabella Muckwab, she was sentenced to death via hanging in what we now know as The Witchwood Forest. For many weeks after her demise, she hung from this noose so the settlers of the fledgling town could spit on her corpse and pelt it with stones, as the Hatchetmen believed she was not deserving of a proper burial. It wasn't until her corpse had decayed so much as to nauseate passersby that she was finally laid to rest."_

Okay, first of all, gross. Witch or not, whose _bright idea_ was it to just... _have_ a decaying corpse on display for townsfolk to see? All that's gonna do is attract flies and maggots, and make your entire town smell rank. These _"Hatchetmen"_ weren't the sharpest crayons in the box, were they? My next thoughts were quickly echoed by Emma.

"And if you'll remember, the eventual burial site of Willabella Muckwab was where we _found_ the black stone tablets in the first place!" she recalled.

"Well, I suppose it's obvious who _'The Lords in Black'_ are, then..." Hidgens declared nonchalantly.

"I'd say so too," Paul agreed. "Why is it that _every single breakthrough_ we've had in this case so far was just... something that's been sitting under our noses for ages, but we never bothered to notice before now?"

"Alright, gang," Emma said, turning back towards the others. "Where do we go from here?"

Hidgens appeared to ponder that question for a moment. "I'm going to try and conduct a search of both the Hatchetfield Public Library, and the library at the Hatchetfield Community College," he soon declared formally. "As for the two of you, I'd like you to do as you've been doing. Continue working on your theories about these... _Lords in Black_."

"Sounds good to me, professor," Emma complied with a nod. A small smirk crept onto her face. "I think I've already got one brewing in my head."

"Excellent!" Hidgens exclaimed proudly.

The video cut to black, and for a moment I assumed the video was over. But just as I was about to start thinking over Emma's potential theory, it suddenly cut back to recorded footage. The camera was pointed at yet _another_ glass display case. This one contained a stone tablet, this one much more grayish-brown and ordinary than the black stone tablets Paul and Emma had found all those videos ago. It appeared to have some kind of paint smeared across it's surface, and I was able to make out what it depicted. A basic stick figure, with a circle above it's head... And _connecting_ these two objects was a slightly-curved line coming from the stick figure's... _crotch area..._

" _Fuck yeah,_ it's still here!" Emma exclaimed enthusiastically from behind the camera, earning a fit of snickers from the also-off-camera Paul.

"Oh wow, you were right," Hidgens added on. "That's _definitely_ a penis."

The video ended, for real this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus begins a new arc in this story! I'm pretty stoked for this one, so get excited ;) Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	17. we came up with another theory abt one of the lords in black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma reveals a connection she and Paul made between Wiggog Y'rath, T'noy Karaxis, and one of the other Lords in Black from the stone tablets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since this chapter being uploaded is pretty much _guaranteed_ to push this fic over the 1,000 hits mark, I have two things I'd like to say. First of all, thank you all _so_ much for reading, your enthusiasm for DTfiles _never_ fails to make my day. Second of all, some of you may remember that when I started this fic, I was doing character asks on my tumblr (@piece-of-caek) after each chapter. I stopped doing these after chapter 4 bc I just wasn't getting asks, but I figured just to celebrate the fic hitting this milestone, I'd start doing them again. So after reading this chapter, you can go to my tumblr and send an ask for Paul, Emma, Hidgens, Wiggly, Ted, or Tinky! Anyways, enough of my rambling. Once again, thank you all _so_ much for sticking with this fic <3

The next video wasted _no time_ with establishing shots, simply starting with the camera already pointed at Emma. She was back in the living area of the apartment, which looked _remarkably_ clean considering what Mr. Fleischer had told them about the state of the place a couple videos ago. Both she and Paul were on the couch, with Paul clearly being the one holding the camera. Emma herself looked quite tired, something that was quickly becoming a standard for these videos. Based on the fact that she was wearing something that _greatly_ resembled her sleepwear from several videos back- plus the lamplit state of the living room, I could easily infer that it was somewhat late in the day. A caption that read _"Friday, May 31st, 2019"_ appeared onscreen, and promptly vanished once Emma looked at the camera and spoke up with that familiar smile of greeting.

"Hey folks! Uh, first of all, Happy Memorial Day!" she began. "Whatever you guys did to celebrate, I hope it was more fun than how _we_ spent today, and most of last night."

"Yeah, turns out cleaning up dried vomit from _literally every room in your apartment_ isn't very pleasant." Paul deadpanned from behind the camera.

Emma shuddered, but smiled despite herself. "Yeah, that was... _eugh_ ," she mused. She then shook her head, getting herself back on track. "But yeah, we _did_ manage to clean up the apartment, and Ernie _did_ send a repairman to fix our guest room door, so that's good."

"Oh! And in case you were wondering how we explained all this... _business_ to Mr. Fleischer," Paul continued. "We just showed him our video of the night Tinky showed up, and you wanna know how he reacted? He said 'Oh, so you were making a short film?'."

Emma snorted, her eyes squeezed shut as she busted up laughing. "Yeah!" she exclaimed. "So of course, we said yes, because it's a _way_ more believable explanation than 'Actually, we were visited by a real, actual demon in the middle of the night', and _Ernie_ says 'Well, give your neighbors a warning next time, you scared the _shit_ out of them!'"

"Honestly, I'm surprised he took it so well, considering we still trashed our apartment to make this quote-un-quote _'short film'_ ," Paul said, joining Emma in her laughter. "But hey, at least he wasn't mad."

Emma nodded as her laughter died down. "Yeah, shout-out to Ernie for being chill, he's probably the only landlord I've ever had who I _didn't_ hate," she sighed. "Now, uh... what were we making this video for again?"

"The theory we came up with?"

" _Fuck!_ That's right!" Emma seemed to recall, her eyes lighting up. She shifted in her seat slightly, composing herself. "Okay, so while Paul and I were cleaning the apartment and scouring Google for ways to get rid of the rank-ass smell Tinky left behind, we started discussing the similarities between Wiggog Y'rath and T'noy Karaxis, the two Lords in Black we've encountered so far."

"Based on what we learned from both Ted and Tinky- _plus_ what little info is presented in the Tickle-Me-Wiggly ad, we managed to make a few connections," Paul expounded. "One, both brothers have some kinda minions called _'Sniggles'_. And two, both have made mention of someone called _'Uncle Wiley'_."

"These two little tidbits- especially the one about the Sniggles, helped me come to a conclusion that will only make sense to fellow Hatchetfielders," Emma declared, the excitement in her expression evident. "Paul and I believe that _Watcher World_ might have a part to play in all this."

"Mind explaining what Watcher World is for our out-of-state audience?" Paul pressed her.

"Why, I'm glad you asked!" Emma replied with a jokingly showman-esque flair, earning a chuckle from Paul. Emma took a moment to shoot him a teasing smile before continuing on with her explanation. "Basically, Watcher World is this old, rundown amusement park on the edge of town. It's most defining feature is it's weird eye theme that _mainly_ consists of slapping eyes everywhere and giving the rides _extraordinarily_ bad puns for names. The most famous of these rides is _'The Tear-Jerker'_ , the tallest rollercoaster in the Midwest."

"But the _really_ important part of this equation is Watcher World's mascot, Blinky," Emma continued to explain enthusiastically. It was clear to me that passionately explaining things was a shared trait between Paul and Emma. "He's this big purple furry cyclops thing with a fuzzy pink belly, and a _huge_ yellow eye with a purple iris for a face. Kinda cute, assuming you don't have ommetaphobia."

"That's a phobia of eyes, in case you weren't aware!" Paul chimed in helpfully for the audience.

"Thank you, Paul," Emma said. "Anyways, we have reason to believe that _'Blinky'_ is a nickname for _'Bliklotep'_ \- who if you'll remember, was the name on the stone tablet with the marking resembling an eye."

"Another thing we've noticed about the Lords in Black that we've encountered is their... _childish presentation_ , for lack of a better phrase," Paul explained. "Wiggly spreads his influence via an over-priced children's toy, for example."

"And Tinky, though seemingly not having any doll to speak of," Emma added on. "Seems to treat the universe as a big elaborate game, with the human race being his toys. If you'll recall, he gave me, Paul, _and_ Ted toy-based nicknames."

"Plus, he talks like an eight year old who just learned what swear words are..."

"Yeah, that too."

"Oh, and it _may_ also be significant that Blinky dolls can be bought or won at Watcher World!" Paul tacked on. "So if Blinky truly _is_ Bliklotep, those dolls could have similar properties to he Tickle-Me-Wiggly dolls!"

I'll admit, I was pretty won over by their explanation. Maybe it's just that they had more to go off of this time, maybe the events of the previous videos made me less of a skeptic. Whatever the case, I was _definitely_ more convinced by this theory than I was by Paul's Wiggly theory from all those videos ago. Emma straightened up, appearing as though she was about to end her info-dump.

"So, here's the plan," she began. "On Sunday, June 2nd- Paul and I's shared day off from work, we'll be taking a little field trip to Watcher World to see if our theory holds any water."

"We'll have to be careful, though," Paul piped up. "Since according to Tinky, this 'Uncle Wiley' character is none too pleased with our snooping around."

"Right," Emma affirmed. She then got a look of curiosity in her eyes, and glanced at Paul off-camera. "Hey, Paul? Have you ever been to Watcher World before?"

"Yeah, once," Paul replied gravely. "My folks dragged me along when I was around five or six, _maybe_ seven." He gave a shudder before continuing. "I hated every second of it. It was too hot out, I was too scared to go on any of the rides, and all the eyes everywhere made me _super_ uncomfortable. The last straw was when we met the costumed Blinky mascot. He freaked me out so badly that I broke down crying, and we had to leave early."

Emma got a sad smile on her face. _"Aww..."_ she cooed sympathetically.

"Yeah, it was... _not a great day_ , to say the least," Paul chuckled. "What about you, Em?"

Emma's eyebrows shot up, like she wasn't expecting the question. "Well, we didn't go _every_ Summer, but every other year, dad would take me and Jane to Watcher World to celebrate our first day of Summer vacation." she explained.

_Jane..._ Was this Emma's sister? I'd figured out that Emma _must_ have a sibling a long time ago, considering she mentioned having a brother-in-law and a nephew before. I knew it couldn't be this _'Becky'_ she'd brought up once or twice before, since Emma referred to her as 'Tom's girlfriend' instead of 'my sister'. So assuming this Jane _is_ Emma's sister, she must've gotten a divorce from Tom. That _had_ to be it.

"It was... _fine_ , I guess?" Emma continued, her tone dismissive. Right, they were still talking about Watcher World. A smirk crept up onto her face. "I remember dad would never let us meet Blinky because- and I quote, 'Dude in the costume's probably some sex offender lookin' for an excuse to hang around little girls'."

Paul sputtered out a sound that sounded halfway between a laugh and a gasp. "Oh my god, he _really_ said that!?"

"Yep!" Emma replied, grinning broadly. "And everytime we went, Jane would try and win me a Blinky doll, but I never wanted one. But I _did_ want to ride the Tear-Jerker, and it wasn't until I was thirteen that I was finally tall enough to."

"You actually _rode_ that monstrosity!?" Paul gasped in disbelief. Emma nodded. "What was it like?"

"Absolutely terrifying," Emma answered bluntly. "It was _super_ rickety, and it constantly felt like it was on the verge of breaking down. If it felt like that in 2000, imagine how it feels almost two decades later! Damn thing's prolly gonna blow over if someone so much as _sneezes_ in it's general direction..."

Emma then locked eyes with the camera for the first time in several minutes. "Shit, we went _way_ off-topic, didn't we?" she huffed, shaking her head. "Uh, alright, we're gonna wrap things up here. Sunday. June 2nd. Watcher World. See you guys then."

And with a wink to the audience, the video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	18. Watcher World (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul and Emma arrive at Watcher World.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... for any of my readers who hadn't watched Nightmare Time 2 and 3 before getting into this fic (and I _know_ you exist)... How y'all feeling? Do the events of chapters 9-16 make sense now?

The next video began much like the first Wiggog Y'rath video had, in a semi-crowded parking lot. This one, however, did not provide a sense of mundane familiarity. The Toy Zone parking lot was just that, a Toy Zone parking lot. After all, it was just an ordinary toy store that just _happened_ to be stocking the carriers of an eldritch monster's essence. _This_ lot, I observed as the camera was panned around, felt unfamiliar and ominous. Probably a strange thing to say, I'm aware, but I have my reasoning. Despite how sunny and pleasant it looked outside, the woods surrounding the lot looked as though they were completely _enveloped_ in shadow, contrasting with the bright blue sky. And when the camera was turned to face the entrance of Watcher World that was sitting several feet away, with hokey carnival music audibly playing on a speaker inside the park, I realized that we'd be delving into uncharted territory. I'd never even _heard_ of Watcher World before watching the last video, much less knew what it _looked like_. And if Paul and Emma were to be believed, they hadn't been to this park since they were _kids_. The camera stopped panning around, it's view landing on Paul, exiting the passenger seat of his and Emma's car and donning a pair of sunglasses as he stood up.

"Hey there, shades!" Emma greeted him playfully.

Paul awkwardly pointed a pair of finger guns at the camera, a dopey-looking smile on his face. _"Heeeeeyyy!"_ he said in what was _probably_ meant to be a Fonzie impression, earning a laugh out of Emma.

"Ready to go relive some childhood trauma?" she asked, lightheartedly sarcastic.

Paul snickered, adjusting his sunglasses as he shut the car door. "We have some very _weird_ dates nowadays, don't we?"

The video cut ahead, showing a shot of... pavement? Yes, for some reason, the camera appeared to be pointed directly at the ground. Just at the top of the frame, I could see the base of some kind of wooden structure, painted a dark shade of purple. The top of a sandal-clad foot briefly poked into view before sliding back out, and an unfamiliar voice spoke up from off-camera.

"Welcome to Watcher World!" the voice exclaimed, oozing with that familiar stock enthusiasm displayed by just about _every_ theme park worker I've ever encountered. "Ready to _watch_ your dreams come true?"

"You bet!" Emma's similarly customer service-esque voice replied. "Two adult tickets, please?"

"But of course!" the Ticket Taker complied. There was a brief period of silence- presumably while the man got the tickets, before he piped up with: "So, first date?"

"Uh, no," Paul's voice responded, sounding a little caught off-guard. "More like... _tenth-ish?_ "

"Uh, Paul?" Emma muttered uncertainly. "I don't know if we should be-"

"Ah, how _romantic!_ " the Ticket Taker mused with an exaggerated wistful sigh. "Tell ya what, I'll give you two lovebirds a little _discount_ on your tickets, my treat!"

"Whoa, you serious, man?" Emma inquired, sounding skeptical.

"I insist, I insist!" the Ticket Taker pressed. There was another momentary pause. "Here you are! Make it a day worth _watching!_ "

"Oh, we plan to." Emma said cheekily, the camera shifting slightly in her grip.

"That's the spirit!" the Ticket Taker declared. "Have fun, you lovebirds! And remember to take care of each other today. _Blinky's got his eye on you~_ "

"...'Kay, will do." Emma replied awkwardly.

The couple began to walk away from the ticket booth. And with a mutter of _"Damn, that got weird..."_ from Emma, the camera's view was _finally_ removed from the ground. The sight that greeted me was... unsettling. Though the sky was still bright and sunny, and the park was active and bustling, something about the place seemed... _off_. The architecture of the entrance area- which appeared to be an arcade of standard carnival games, looked crooked and angular. Like something out of an animated Tim Burton movie. On top of that, everything was painted a deep shade of purple, with yellow eyes recklessly plastered on every surface. Perhaps it's cliche to say, but it _really_ felt like the pupil of each eye was staring _directly_ at the camera as Paul and Emma passed by. The carnival music playing over some unseen speaker only added to the unnerving vibe of it all.

"Sorry about that, guys," Emma said to the audience as she and Paul pressed on through the park. "I was worried that we wouldn't be allowed in if the Ticket Taker saw we were filming, hence why you had to get a nice view of my new sandals."

"Hey, if the weird, sexually-charged comments that _one_ person keeps leaving on our videos are any indication," Paul chimed in with a small chuckle. "Then someone out there probably got _some_ enjoyment out of it."

The camera quickly panned over to Paul- who was mulling over a comically large map of the park as he walked, and Emma reached out to playfully slug him in the arm. "Please, _never_ put that thought in my head again, oh my _god_." she said faux-demandingly before dissolving into a fit of laughter that Paul _quickly_ joined in on.

The couple's laughter died down, and they stopped walking. "So, where should we start looking?" Emma asked, surveying the area with the camera. "This is a surprisingly big park, so we've got _plenty_ of ground to cover."

"Let's see here..." Paul murmured, the camera's view landing on him meticulously scouring the map. He then placed a finger on... _something_ that I couldn't see on the map. "Well, there's a gift shop not too far from here! Maybe we could go there and take a look at the Blinky dolls for sale? See if there's anything weird about them?"

"Good thinking, babe!" Emma exclaimed.

The video cut ahead once more. The sounds of the carnival music and noisy park-goers sounded muffled and far away, as the couple were now in a _much_ quieter indoors area. Clearly a gift shop, with shelves and wall racks stuffed with Watcher World and Blinky merchandise. Shirts, hats, weird antennae things that you could probably make yourself at home without spending _nearly_ as much money... But the camera's view quickly swiveled over to the _real_ cash cow of the shop, a wall rack packed with Blinky dolls. Paul- with his shades now hanging off the front of his shirt, stepped into frame, eyeing the dolls warily.

"What're you waiting for?" Emma asked impatiently as Paul appeared to try and inspect the dolls on the rack without picking one up. "We'll get this done a _lot_ faster if you just grab one."

"I _know_ , but..." Paul sighed. He lowered his voice a smidge, tugging uncomfortably at the hem of his shirt. "You remember the Wiggly doll fiasco! I'm just worried that the second I grab one, it'll send us into another frenzy of some sort..."

"Aw, _babe_ ," Emma said, her voice softening. "I know you're worried, but consider this. The fact that you're reluctant to pick one up at _all_ means that it may not have the same _properties_ as the Wigglies."

"Y-you're right..." Paul huffed, a small, grateful smile on his face. "Alright, here goes nothing."

Paul eyed the rack, taking a deep breath as though he were hyping himself up to plunge his hand directly into a pit of live fire ants. After a moment's hesitation, Paul reached out and grabbed a Blinky doll off the wall rack. Thankfully, nothing happened, and Paul breathed a sigh of relief. He took a moment to inspect the pudgy purple cyclops doll.

"Any thoughts?" Emma inquired.

"This material..." Paul mused, lightly bouncing the doll in his hand. "It feels _exactly_ like the fur of the Wiggly dolls. The doll's even weighted the same, so I think it might be the same sewing pattern, too..." He briefly ran his hand over the Blinky's eye. "The material on the eye feels different from the felt covering the Wiggly dolls' eyes, but I don't know whether or not I should be concerned by that."

"Hmm..." Emma hummed with intrigue, stepping a little closer. She carefully grabbed a tag that was dangling off the side of the doll's head, _a price tag_. "$49.95... Same price as the Wiggly dolls, which is even _more_ bonkers considering this is a _theme park toy_."

"Right?" Paul snorted in amusement. He turned the doll around, and appeared to notice another tag on the doll's lower back. He pushed it back with his thumb, and his eyes lit up. _"Bingo!"_

"What is it?"

"Take a look at this tag!" Paul exclaimed, bringing the doll closer to the camera. "Not only does it have copyright info for Uncle Wiley Toys- the same company that made the Tickle-Me-Wiggly..." He flipped the tag, showing the other side of it. "It _also_ says _'Bliklotep'_ on the back here!"

"Fucking _jackpot!_ " Emma gasped excitedly, focusing the camera on the tag. Indeed, the backside of the tag bore the name of the Lord in Black that corresponded to the tablet with the eye-like marking. "God, it's like they _want_ us to find them out! So, you think we should buy it so Hidgens can analyze it, or- _huh?_ "

Emma suddenly stopped mid-sentence, turning the camera around as though someone had tapped her shoulder. And indeed, when the camera finished turning, I was met with the sight of an _enormous_ yellow eye with a purple iris practically _pressed_ against the lens. Paul and Emma gave a startled yelp- with Emma stumbling back slightly, and I'll admit to letting out my _own_ surprised gasp. Once the owner of the eye was fully in frame, I realized who it was. Blinky- or should I say _Bliklotep_. He looked _just_ as Emma had described him in the last video. A large, furry purple cyclops with a pink belly and a stocky, plush-like build. He didn't look all that tall, appearing to be only a foot taller than the shelf he was standing next to. 5'5, _maybe_ 5'7 if I'm being generous. Despite lacking any visible mouth, Blinky giggled.

 _"Hehehehehe~ Did Blinky frighten you?"_ the cyclops asked in a childlike voice, tilting his massive head to the side slightly.

"N-no, you just... startled us," Emma replied with an uncomfortable chuckle. "I mean, personal space much?"

Blinky gave an odd, purr-ish sound, stepping a little closer. _"You've got a little eye box~"_ he observed, pointing a plushy finger at the camera. _"Can Blinky see?"_

Before Emma could respond, Blinky stepped forward, giggling ecstatically as he peered at the camera lens. _"Hello, little eye box~"_ he squealed with delight, getting _uncomfortably_ close to the lens. He began to poke at the lens, producing a repetitive _tink, tink, tink_ sound as though he had a claw buried beneath all that violet-colored fur. It was at this moment I noticed just how... _watery_ Blinky's eye looked. It didn't look hard and artificial, like the kind of eye you'd _expect_ to see on these mascot costumes. Despite how still the pupil was, it looked... _real_. Like it'd actually _hurt_ if it was poked. Not to mention, I could see little blue clusters of crust resembling sleepers at the eye's corners. I began to question whether or not this _thing_ I was looking at was _actually_ a mascot suit. _"Blinky sees you in there~"_

"O-Okay, that's enough of that!" Emma chimed in nervously, lightly batting Blinky's hand away from the camera. "We just got this thing like two or three months ago, we don't need anyone breaking it."

Blinky crossed his chubby purple arms. _"Aw, you're no fun!"_ he pouted. The cyclops then looked over at Paul, who'd been silently standing in the corner between the edge of the gift shop's checkout counter, and the nearby wall rack of Blinky dolls. Paul, looking highly nervous, appeared to flinch once Blinky took notice of him. The park's mascot giggled once more. _"Hello there~"_

"Uh, um..." Paul stammered out in a small voice. I began to remember his story of how he went to Watcher World as a _really_ little kid. It was clear to me that he was remembering it too. "H-hey... Blinky."

Blinky stepped closer, and Paul's eyes widened slightly. _"Aw, are you scared of Blinky~?"_ he cooed.

Paul's gaze shifted down to his feet. "N-no, I just-"

Blinky broke out into another bout of giggles. He reached up, gently grabbing Paul's face and lowering it to his height. He tilted the much taller man's face up, _forcing_ Paul to make eye contact. Paul appeared to tremble slightly, his breathing quickening. _"Hehehehehe~ Don't be afraid, little fella~"_ the cyclops purred faux-soothingly. _"Blinky's got you~"_

That's when Emma finally stepped in. "Alright, get your goddamn hands off of him, freakshow!" she snapped protectively.

Stepping forward, Emma reached out and _shoved_ Blinky away from Paul. The mascot stumbled, backing into a nearby shelf and almost toppling it over. Blinky took a moment to regain his balance- fixing the jostled shelf in the process, before glaring at the camera with an odd growling sound. Though his eye remained unmoving, I could still sense a distinct feeling of _rage_ coming from the stocky purple beast.

 _"Nice little girls don't shove..."_ he grumbled gravely.

"Well, good thing I'm _not_ a nice little girl, then!" Emma spat. "You stay the fuck away from Paul, you got that?"

There was a moment of silence, only the sounds of the busy park in the background to fill the void. _"Stay away from Paul..."_ Blinky muttered. He nodded his big purple head. _"Got it..."_

With a cheery little _"Bye bye~!"_ \- as though the last five or so minutes hadn't happened, Blinky turned around and lumbered his way out of the gift shop.

"God, what a fucking _creep_ , right Paul?" Emma asked, turning the camera back towards Paul, who did _not_ look okay. His eyes were wide with distress, he was shaking and breathing heavily, and he had a death-like grip on the Blinky doll in his hands. Emma gasped. "Paul? _Paul!_ "

The video suddenly cut ahead again, with the camera pointed off in some random direction, away from Paul. They were still clearly in the gift shop, though I couldn't tell how much time had passed. I could hear Emma muttering something in a soft voice.

"-and one thing you can taste?"

"Um..." Paul said in a hushed- though significantly less frazzled voice, taking a moment to smack his lips. "The aftertaste of the gum I was chewing on the way to the park..."

"Okay good, you're doing great," Emma assured him gently. "Now, take a deep breath with me, okay?"

Paul did as he was told, breathing in for four seconds, holding it for seven seconds, and exhaling for eight seconds.

"Better?"

"Y-yeah... Thanks, Em..."

"You good to appear on camera again?"

"Mhm."

With that, the camera shifted it's view back towards Paul, who appeared shaken but okay. He was standing next to a rack of purple t-shirts, a _much_ less claustrophobic place to stand than the corner he'd been in earlier.

"Mind telling me what set you off?" Emma asked, still retaining that gentle tone. "It's okay if you don't wanna."

"It's just that, um..." Paul began, nervously fiddling with the fur of the Blinky doll. "Those things that Blinky said to me a few minutes ago... Th-that was _word-for-word_ what he said to me when I came here and met the Blinky mascot as a little kid. Same tone, same inflection, _almost_ the same body language... Same _everything_."

Emma gave a nervous hum. "That's... disconcerting, to say the least..." she mused, earning a nod of agreement from Paul. "We should stay close, just in case."

The video cut ahead _again_ , and the two were wandering the park once more. They appeared to be passing by a Scrambler ride, a sign next to it reading **_"THE CORNEA CURLER"_** in big bold (purple, of course) text. The sky looked a little cloudier, but it was still sunny out overall. Emma spoke up.

"Alright folks, here's the situation," she said to the audience. "We bought the Blinky doll- thank _fuck_ for the discount the Ticket Taker gave us earlier, and we're gonna take it to Hidgens tomorrow for a thorough inspection."

"Right now, we're looking for other places of interest." Paul explained.

"Speaking of, any ideas?" Emma pressed.

"Well, I've already determined that going on one of the rides would be a bad idea, given that injuries are a common occurrence here," Paul mused. "I mean, I dunno if it's as bad as Action Park, but it's _still_ pretty dangerous."

"Huh?" Emma asked, pointing the camera at Paul.

Paul looked up from the map, a surprised expression on his face. "You've never heard of Action Park?" he said in disbelief. "The amusement park where six people died and countless others were injured because the people who designed the attractions _weren't_ engineers? They literally had to buy Vernon, New Jersey more ambulances to keep up with the amount of people getting injured at the park each day!"

A pause. "You watch too much Defunctland, you know that?" Emma teased.

Paul smiled with a playful shrug. "Only at 2 AM when I can't sleep."

"You're a goddamn geek, but you're also cute so I'll let it slide," Emma snickered playfully. "Okay, but for real though. Any ideas?"

"Well," Paul muttered, looking back down at the map. "A couple places _did_ stick out to me. There's the train station, Madame Iris's tent, Blinky's Funhouse, the Drowsy Town Theater-"

Emma gasped, visibly startling Paul. "The theater!" she exclaimed. "That's it!"

"What? What's it?"

"Okay, context for the audience, and Paul," Emma began excitedly, as though preparing to launch herself into another info-dump. "I forgot to mention this in the last video, but there's a _big_ reason why the word 'Sniggles' and the name 'Uncle Wiley' from the Tickle-Me-Wiggly ad made me think of Watcher World. At the Drowsy Town Theater, they perform stage shows _starring_ the Sniggles. But instead of the green octopus guys from the Wiggly ad, _these_ Sniggles are weird purple bird monster things! And sometimes during these shows, an old sailor dude named Uncle Wiley would come out onstage. The _same_ old sailor dude named Uncle Wiley from the Wiggly commercial, fake beard and questionable fashion choices in all!"

An awed smile spread across Paul's face. "Damn, I would've _never_ noticed that if I were doing this on my own," he mused. "How're you so goddamn smart?"

Emma giggled sheepishly. "Oh, _hush_ ," she said. "But yeah, anyways... I was thinking that _maybe_ we could learn something about Bliklotep from one of the shows at the Drowsy Town Theater."

Paul nodded. "Alright, then it's settled!" he exclaimed, an odd look on his face. "Let's... go watch a musical!"

Emma burst out cackling, stepping closer to Paul. "Fuckin' look at Mr. Guy Who Doesn't Like Musicals, over here!" she exclaimed teasingly, bringing the camera in closer to Paul's face.

"Oh, knock it off!" Paul chuckled, putting his hand over the camera lens with a broad grin on his face.

Once again, the video cut ahead, the camera pointing at a sign in a patch of shade displaying various showtimes for...

" _'The Uncle Wiley and Friends Sniggle and Giggle Show'_..." Emma read off the sign.

"That's... _certainly_ a sentence in the English language..." Paul huffed.

Emma snorted. "Looks like the next show is in forty-ish minutes," she observed. "We'll have to wait it out."

"Alright, I think I saw a bench nearby where we can sit in the meantime." Paul said.

 _One more cut ahead_ , and the two appeared to be sitting on the aforementioned bench now. The camera was pointed at the theater, which looked rather old and pathetic despite it's large size. And of course, it was painted purple because what _isn't_ purple in this fucking park. Anyways, there was a long stretch of silence before Emma suddenly spoke up.

"Did you see a restroom anywhere?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think we passed one on the way to the theater." Paul replied.

The camera's view shifted and shuffled around for a moment. "Take the camera, I'll be right back."

The view swiveled over to show Emma standing from her spot on the bench, adjusting her ponytail. "W-wait, I thought you said-" Paul began to say in a concerned tone.

"I'm just going to the restroom, babe!" Emma exclaimed, eyeing the camera. She then looked at Paul softly, leaning forward slightly with her hands rested on her legs. "Paul, I know you're worried. I am too! But I'm _just_ going to the restroom, I'll be okay! I'll be back in five."

Emma leaned forward all the way, and I could hear her press a kiss to Paul's cheek off-camera. She pulled back, smiling, and turned to go. Paul briefly tracked her movement with the camera as she left, and once she was out of frame, the video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	19. Watcher World (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul goes to look for Emma when she sends him a concerning text message several minutes after her trip to the restroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect a new DT Drabble on my tumblr (@piece-of-caek) tomorrow! Like the last one, it won't be necessary to understand the plot, but it'll provide a little bit of extra context.
> 
> **TW: Teeth falling out**

**_"WARNING: The contents of this video may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised."_ **

Ah, _shit_. Another content warning. Something _bad_ was gonna happen in this video. Bracing myself for the worst, I watched on as the video cut to a shot of Paul, seemingly still on the bench from the end of the last video. The sky visible behind him had grown _significantly_ more cloudy, and his face was fraught with worry as he pointed the camera at himself. He spoke up.

"Okay so, uh..." he began, sounding just as nervous as he looked. "It's been nearly ten minutes since Emma went to the restroom... and she hasn't come back. I-I'm gonna wait it out for another two or three minutes, and if she doesn't come back in that time, then I'll go-"

Paul was suddenly cut off by a muffled buzzing sound from off-camera, like that of a phone left on vibrate. Pulling the camera back slightly, Paul reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out an iPhone. He checked the screen, and for just a moment, a look of relief crossed his face.

"It's a message from Emma," he explained, shooting a quick glance back at the camera. He tapped around on the phone's screen with his free hand, seemingly opening the text. But just then, his relieved smile returned to his earlier look of worry. "Oh my god..."

Paul awkwardly angled the camera so that it was pointed at his phone. The contact at the top of the screen read _"Emma"_ , accompanied by two green heart emojis. Just below that was her phone number, which looked as though it had been blurred out in editing. But that, of course, was not the important part. Beneath two inconspicuous messages- seemingly from the day prior, was a new text from Emma that read as follows:

_"PAUL SOS IN FRONT OF EYE-DROP"_

"Shit, shit, _shit..._ " Paul muttered, his voice frantic and frightened. He set his phone down, and fumbled around for the folded-up map that was sitting just beside him. He opened up the map- struggling slightly thanks to his one preoccupied hand, and scanned over it with the camera. The map- like everything else in Watcher World, was mostly purple with some splashes of yellow. "Okay, the Eye-Drop, that's the log flume ride, I think... Um..."

The camera focused in on an illustration of three smiling, purple-eyed people riding a log-shaped boat with a large eye (not unlike Blinky's) plastered on the front. The drawing was labeled with _"EYE-DROP"_.

"Okay, okay, okay," Paul huffed out. "That's not too far from here!"

The video suddenly cut ahead, showing a shot of a large, imposing log flume ride. One of the boats came racing down the final hill with an enormous splash, sending gross theme park water flying both onto the people in the boat, _and_ some unfortunate passersby walking past the ride. The queue line was packed with smiling park-goers, staring straight ahead in line. No sign of Emma, however.

"Okay, so I'm at the Eye-Drop, and I spent a few minutes looking around," Paul piped up. "I-I couldn't find Emma. I tried asking around to see if anyone in line had seen her, but none of them even acknowledged my presence. The most I got was a few people who just... _looked at me_ with these big, unnatural smiles without saying anything. I... I don't know what to do, and no one's helping me out here..."

"Perhaps I could be of assistance, sir?"

At the sound of a new, unfamiliar voice, Paul whirled around to face an approaching man. A tall man with short, close-cropped hair, a cheesy purple barker's outfit, and amicable _purple_ eyes that appeared to stare _directly_ at the camera.

"Looking for someone, sir?" the Barker asked as he came to a stop in front of Paul.

"Uh, y-yes, actually..." Paul replied nervously. "My-"

"Your girlfriend, perhaps?"

That seemed to give Paul pause. "How did you...?"

The Barker shrugged with a charismatic smile. "Call it a hunch!" he exclaimed casually. "I do believe I saw a young woman wandering around and looking rather lost not _five_ minutes ago! Could that be your lady, sir?"

"Maybe?" Paul reluctantly answered. "What did she look like?"

_"Hmm..."_ the Barker hummed thoughtfully. "Real short, wearing jean shorts and a yellow tank top, brown hair in a ponytail?"

"Th-that's her!" Paul exclaimed. "Where'd you see her?"

The Barker jabbed a thumb behind him. "If I recall correctly, she was walking down towards Main Street," he explained. "Had a couple of _unsavory_ looking characters following close behind her."

"What!?" Paul gasped in a panic.

"Mhm," the Barker affirmed with a nod. "Tell ya what, I'm on my lunch break at the moment. Why don't I help you find your sweetheart, sir?"

There was a long stretch of silence, presumably while Paul thought over the Barker's offer. Personally, I didn't trust this guy in the _slightest_. The fact that he was an employee certainly didn't help his case, considering what happened with Blinky earlier. And how he just _happened_ to guess that Paul was looking for his girlfriend made him even _more_ suspicious. Still, considering that apparently people weren't even _acknowledging_ Paul when he'd asked for help, I suppose that it wasn't too surprising when Paul responded with a reluctantly compliant:

"O-okay..."

The two began to set off, and the video cut ahead once more. The sight to greet me was a long, _eerily_ empty walkway, lined with shops and eateries on both sides. This _had_ to be Watcher World's Main Street, but where were all the people? The entire area was unnervingly quiet, with the noise of the bustling park sounding distant and muffled. The sky was now _completely_ overcast, and I could've sworn I heard a faint rumble of thunder in the distance. The Barker walked just ahead of Paul, though he soon stopped and turned around.

"Here we are, sir! Main Street of Watcher World!" he declared cheerfully. "Your little lady is _bound_ to be around here somewhere!"

"Emma!" Paul called out as he panned the camera around the empty street. His voice was shaky and distressed, justifiably so considering what the Barker had told him. "Emma! Emma, where are you?"

He continued on like that for a while. Calling out Emma's name and wandering further up the street as he haphazardly swiveled the camera's view around, sounding progressively more worried with each call. I could hear the Barker following close behind him.

"Now, isn't that just sad?" he tutted. Paul turned the camera back around to face him, ceasing his calls. "This is what, the _third_ time you've put Emma in harm's way now?"

"...Huh?" Paul asked, his voice small.

The Barker shook his head. "What a _pathetic_ excuse of a boyfriend you are, sir," he sighed. "Dragging your _poor_ Emma into these dangerous situations! And for what? Some silly _investigation?_ "

"Sh-shut up!" Paul stammered defensively. "I wouldn't force Emma to do something that she didn't wanna do!"

"You didn't even offer to accompany her to the _restroom!_ After she said to stick together, no less!" the Barker continued, sounding more and more appalled by the _second_. He looked up at Paul, astounded disbelief in his eyes. "It's almost like... you don't love her at _all_ , sir!"

"Wh-what do _you_ know about us!?" Paul spat, panicked and paranoid. "You don't know us!"

"Oh, but we do, sir," the Barker retorted ominously. His expression darkened considerably. "We've been watching you, sir, with _a thousand eyes_. And frankly, sir, you _disgust_ me. If _I_ were your dear Emma, I wouldn't be able to look you in the _fucking_ eye after this."

_"Stop it! Just shut up already!"_ Paul snapped, his voice _uncharacteristically_ angry. The camera shook in his grip as he began to ramble, sounding more like he was trying to convince _himself_ than the Barker. "Emma's okay. Any moment now, she's gonna come out, and she's gonna be fine."

The Barker opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by a voice in the distance.

"Paul?"

Paul quickly snapped the camera around, pointing it in the direction he and the Barker came from. Standing several feet away, in the middle of the street, was...

"Emma?"

Despite how far away she was, I could see something of a smile spread across Emma's face. She looked... _disheveled_. Her hair was messy and ruffled, having clearly come out of it's ponytail. She appeared to be panting heavily, and she just looked worn out overall. But still, it was Emma.

"Emma!" Paul exclaimed, sounding nearly _ecstatic_ as he rushed forward to meet her. Emma began to approach too, though I could've _sworn_ she was limping. The two reached each other, and Paul pulled her into a tight embrace. Though the camera was pointed at an awkward angle thanks to the placement of Paul's hand on Emma's back, I could still tell that they had sunk to the ground. Paul spoke up again, his voice relieved and a little choked up. "Thank _god_ you're alright, Emma! I saw your SOS, what happened?"

"Oh Paul, it was _terrible!_ " Emma replied, sounding as though she was about to break down sobbing. "I- they..."

At that moment, Emma began to cry heavily. The camera jittered as she heaved with sobs. The view shifted as Paul moved the camera into his lap, still pointed away from their faces but giving me a better idea of what was going on. I could tell that Emma had buried her face in Paul's chest, for one thing.

"Shh, it's okay, sweetheart," Paul shushed her, his voice soft and doting. "I'm right here, I've got you. Can you tell me what happened?"

Emma continued to cry, seemingly shuffling further into Paul's embrace. Her sobs were quick and breathless, sounding utterly broken. But then something... strange happened. Her cries grew less tearful, and more... jovial. Soon I realized that she was no longer crying, but _laughing_. Frantically. Wildly. _Hysterically_. A full-blown cackling fit. Paul grabbed the camera, pulling back from the hug.

"Emma...?" he asked, bafflement in his voice as he angled the camera towards Emma's face. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her smile was wide and open-mouthed as she continued to practically _scream_ with laughter. "What're you...?"

Before Paul could finish his thought, Emma's eyes _flew_ open, revealing them to be the _exact same_ shade of purple as the Barker's eyes as her laughter morphed into a witch-like cackle. Paul gave a startled yelp and scrambled back slightly, still pointing the camera at her. Emma- or the woman pretending to be her, continued to cackle hysterically as her appearance seemed to change. Her brown hair began to grow gray and coarse-looking. Teeth fell from her mouth, one by one, hitting the pavement below with sickening clattering sounds. Her skin started to rapidly age, growing wrinkly and spotty. Her fingernails elongated into a talon-like point. And finally, the yellow tank top and jean shorts she'd been wearing transformed into a loose-fitting ensemble of purple robes and a shawl. Paul watched on with shaky, terrified breaths as the old woman who wasn't Emma stopped laughing and gripped his legs, her sharp nails poking into his shins.

"Wh-what!?" Paul sputtered in shock. "Who are-"

"Call me _Madame Iris_ , my dear boy~" the old woman introduced herself cordially, her voice aged and raspy. She gave a teasing, toothless grin. "Not a half bad performance, eh? If I hadn't given up my soul to eternally serve Lord Bliklotep-" she paused to flip her gray, frizzy hair. "I could've been an actress!"

"Wha-what...?" Paul panted out frantically.

"I must admit I enjoyed being a mere sprig of a girl again..." Madame Iris mused with a wistful sigh. She eyed Paul cheekily. "And having teeth again was pretty swell, too!"

Madame Iris cackled once more, and Paul appeared to snap back into reality.

"What the _hell_ did you do with Emma!?" he demanded, his confusion turning to anger.

"Oh, you'll see _quite soon_ , loverboy~" the little old woman replied in a sing-song tone. _"Come with me, Paul~ Come with Madame Iris to Drowsy Town~"_

Madame Iris's voice seemed to echo through my headphones, the sound reverberating soothingly. It took all my willpower to avoid falling unconscious. The camera's view suddenly jerked downward slightly, like Paul's grip on the camera had loosened.

"N-no..." Paul slurred, sounding distracted and drowsy. "N-no, I can't... I have to find..."

_"Sleep, Paul~"_ Madame Iris continued, her voice almost seeming to morph back into Emma's. _"Join us in Drowsy Town~"_

Just then, Paul slumped backwards, hitting the pavement with a loud _thump_. The camera tumbled out of his hands with a series of clattering sounds. Paul had fallen unconscious. The view, though upside down, was now pointed at one of the sidewalks lining the side of Main Street. I could see the legs of numerous people, seemingly watching the scene that had just played out. When had they gotten there...?

"Excellent work, my dear Iris!" the Barker's voice suddenly spoke up. "Now, would you get that camera for me while I bring our guest of honor to his appointment?"

"But of _course!_ " Madame Iris complied, her voice returning to it's regular raspiness.

Raindrops began to fall around the camera, and the video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	20. Bliklotep (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A show is put on at Watcher World's Drowsy Town Theater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only really like flipping canon the bird when it comes to really minor shit. The seats in the Drowsy Town Theater are _not_ "long, sticky benches", fuck you. /lh Anyways, _CHAPTER FUCKIN' TWENTY, BABES!!!_

**_"WARNING: The contents of this video may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised."_ **

The next video began with a shot of not Paul, not Emma, not even an establishing shot of the environment, but the purple-eyed _Barker_ from the last video. He was pointing the camera at his smiling face, looking chipper and friendly despite how sinister I _knew_ he actually was. He appeared to be in a theater of sorts, the stage concealed by purple curtains visible behind him. I could hear people milling about in the background, chattering and laughing amongst themselves. The Barker spoke up.

"Good day to all you lovely, _lovely_ people watching this footage!" he greeted the audience affably. "Today you'll be seeing a little show Uncle Wiley and the Sniggles are putting on! Normally we don't allow filming in the Drowsy Town Theater, but we're making an _exception_ for this evening's show."

"Oh, and if you're wondering what became of Paul," he continued with a chuckle. "Well, why don't you see for yourself?"

The Barker swiveled the camera around, pointing it out towards the seating area. It was a surprisingly small space, considering how big the theater looked from the outside. It couldn't have been any bigger than a 99-seat joint. Each row was lined with cushioned purple chairs, and one seat in the dead-center of the front row held a _very_ familiar face. Paul- seemingly unconscious with his head slumped forward, was being tied down to a chair by two people in usher's uniforms. At Paul's feet was a discarded sheet of paper that read _"RESERVED SEAT"_. The people visible in the background were minding their own business, oblivious- or possibly _complicit_ to the man being strapped down to a chair. The red-haired woman tying his ankles stood from her spot on the ground and looked to the Barker with that same purple gaze.

"His legs have been restrained." she declared formally.

A stone-faced male usher that'd been tying Paul's wrists to the armrests looked up as well. "As have his arms."

"Excellent work, you two," the Barker commended them. "Lord Blinky's gonna _love_ this."

Something _resembling_ a smile seemed to appear on the male usher's face. "Shall we gag him now, sir?" he asked.

" _Now, now!_ Hold your horses, pal! We have to formally welcome him first!" the Barker exclaimed, aghast. He reached out, prodding Paul's shoulder. "Oh, sir? Rise and shine! The show's about to begin!"

Paul began to stir, a pained groan escaping him. He raised his slumped head, wearily surveying the area with exhausted- but opened eyes. _"Ugh, what the...? Where am I?"_ he mumbled drowsily. He glanced down at his wrists, and his eyes widened at the sight of the ropes keeping them bound to the chair. He began to struggle, looking around _much_ more frantically. "Wh-what's going on? Where's Emma!?"

"You're in the Drowsy Town Theater, sir!" the Barker explained, catching Paul's attention. Paul's expression darkened into a scowl, as though he was recalling what the Barker had done to him earlier. "You're about to witness our best show yet! And as for your little Emma... Well, just keep your eyes open, sir."

"What's that supposed to- _mmph!?_ "

Before Paul could finish his sentence, the Barker snapped his fingers and the stone-faced Usher pulled out a violet piece of cloth and wrapped it over Paul's mouth. Paul twisted around in his seat, his eyes wide and frightened as he uselessly struggled against his restraints. I couldn't understand much of what he was saying through his gag, though I was able to make out the phrase _"What did you do with Emma!?"_.

"Relax, sir," the Barker said in a false display of reassurance. "There's no need to make a scene, now. That's the performers' job!"

_"Mmm! MMPH!"_

The video then cut ahead. The camera was now pointed directly at the stage, shaking slightly in the grip of whoever was holding it. _Possibly_ the Barker, possibly not. Who's to say? I could tell the camera's current operator was sitting directly to Paul's left, based on the sounds of his futile effort to free himself from his restraints. The house lights began to dim, and I found myself _dreading_ whatever was about to happen. The chatter began to fade, and a voice rang out over the speakers. The sound quality _of_ said speakers was muffled and crackly, but thankfully still audible.

"Ahoy there, boys and girls! Welcome to the Uncle Wiley and Friends Sniggle and Giggle Show!" the voice- which sounded _oddly familiar_ to me greeted the park-goers. "Please silence your cellphones, and refrain from flash photography! You don't wanna _blind_ Blinky! He's always watching! Now enough _snookin'_ around, let's start the show! _Come on, Sniggles!_ "

 _"Mmmmph..."_ Paul groaned through his gag, sounding irritated.

Upbeat music began to play over the speakers, and the curtains parted, revealing a cheaply-made and _blindingly colorful_ set that looked _vaguely_ like a train station. Various shades of green, purple, yellow, blue, and pink were scattered about the mural being used as the set's backdrop. People began to rush onstage from the aisles, and the audience applauded. They looked... bizarre. They were clad _entirely_ in purple, unsurprisingly. Little pom-pom antennae things adorned their heads, and they had puffy, feathery arm-warmers wrapped around their forearms. It was hard to see thanks to the lighting, but they appeared to have the word _"Blinky"_ on their t-shirts in bubbly white lettering. Some seemed to wear sweatpants, others were clad in tights. Were these supposed to be the Sniggles Emma had mentioned before? I mean, they _did_ look like purple versions of the Sniggles from the Tickle-Me-Wiggly commercial, so I guess they were? The Sniggles hopped around onstage, happily greeting each other in cheery, insipid voices. They continued to laugh and cheer for a moment before a short, female Sniggle stood center stage and smiled out at the audience.

"Hey there, Sniggly-Wiggs! Welcome to Drowsy Town!" she greeted the park-goers in a nasally, childlike voice. The other Sniggles stopped what they were doing, turning to watch her deliver her... I guess _'opening monologue'_ would be the right phrase? "Today's a _very_ special day here at the Drowsy Town Station, and _everybody's celebrating!_ You wanna know why? Because we just found a new bestest buddy-wud for Blinky, and you all get to meet her too!"

A male Sniggle with a dark-haired mullet tied back into a small ponytail stepped forward, putting a gloved hand on the smaller Sniggle's shoulder with a broad, relentless grin on his face. "That's right, Sniggly!" he chimed in brightly, not actually _looking_ at her. "Papa Sniggle went out to go find her! In fact, I think I hear them coming now!"

The female Sniggle- _Sniggly_ , apparently, the male Sniggle, and the others all looked to stage left, holding their hands up to their ears in a cartoonish _'listening'_ pose. Nothing happened for a moment, until a man's voice audibly mumbled something from offstage.

"C'mon, move it, kid!" the man hissed impatiently. "That's our cue!"

"I'm not going out there!" a familiar-sounding woman's voice said defiantly. The Sniggles onstage looked to each other uncomfortably, not moving from their poses. "You can't make me!"

"I don't have time for this..." the man sighed. " _Come on_ , kid. Long as you do what He says, _no one's gonna hurt you!_ "

"No! _No!_ " the woman's voice cried in distress. "Lemme go, you fucking creep! Get your damn wings off of me!"

Seconds later, a long-haired bearded Sniggle with a comically oversized pair of glasses happily bounded onstage, dragging who else but _Emma_ along with him. Her hands appeared to be tied behind her back. She looked frightened and disheveled, trying to resist the bearded Sniggle's (Papa Sniggle?) attempts to bring her out onstage. The audience began to whoop and cheer, as did the Sniggles onstage. I could hear Paul call her name through his gag, and Emma appeared to hear him too. She looked out into the audience, seemingly trying to locate Paul, only to be forced back into the performance by Papa Sniggle placing his wing-hands on her shoulders.

"Here she is!" he exclaimed in an exaggerated 'old man' voice. "Ain't she just the _sweetest_ little Snugglebug this side o' Snoozle Town?"

"What the fuck does that even _mean!?_ " Emma spat in bafflement.

The Sniggles gasped in horror. "Oh, but what _horrible language!_ " Sniggly squeaked.

"She's such a sour snaggle! Blinky'll _never_ wanna be friends with someone pulling such a _looooong_ face!" another female Sniggle- this one with shorter dark brown hair and a slightly deeper voice than Sniggly's, remarked. She approached an apprehensive looking Emma, a mischievous grin on her face. _"Let's see a smile~"_

The Sniggle girl reached out and took hold of Emma's face, seemingly trying to force her lips into a smile. Emma struggled, shaking her head back and forth in an attempt to escape the Sniggle's grip, before biting down _hard_ on her thumb. The Sniggle girl gave a pained squeal and scrambled away from Emma, cradling her hand protectively. The other Sniggles gasped once more.

 _"OWIE!"_ the Sniggle girl exclaimed. "She bit me!"

Emma spat out a purple feather, glaring at the Sniggle girl with murder in her eyes. "Just a little lesson on keeping your hands to yourself." she grumbled threateningly.

The other Sniggles began to crowd around Emma curiously, eyeing her with caution as though she were an escaped circus animal. Some tried to reach out and touch her, like they were trying to provoke her into snapping again. Emma simply flinched away from them, earning a giggle fit from one of the Sniggles each time she did. Despite her defiance, Emma's eyes were wide and fearful. Even the _crowd_ seemed to find her misfortune funny, chuckling each time a curious Sniggle got close to her. One Sniggle- a male one with dark, curly hair, placed his hand on her back, and Emma turned around with a startled yelp and stumbled backward into Papa Sniggle, who'd been watching with intrigue from the sidelines. The bearded Sniggle took hold of the frightened Emma's arms, ignoring her attempts to shake him off.

"Well, Sniggles! It looks like we've got a _mighty_ big piggle on our hands!" Papa Sniggle quipped. "We've got one _snooglish_ little snapper here, and she don't wanna smile!"

"Bu-bu-but, if we can't get her to smile before Blinky gets here, He'll get _awful mad!_ " the curly-haired Sniggle stammered.

"And when Blinky gets mad, He-" a soft-voiced female Sniggle with red hair began to say.

"We _all_ know what happens when Blinky gets mad, Snigglina!" Papa Sniggle cut her off. He paused, appearing to shudder for a moment before continuing. "But as long as we can get Blinky's naughty new pal to cooperate, we'll _avoid_ His wrath!"

The Sniggles cheered at that, but Emma appeared less than amused. She tried once more to free herself from Papa Sniggle's grip, but he didn't budge.

"You little sickos _better_ not try any funny business!" Emma hissed, grunting with effort as she struggled against the bearded Sniggle. "Touch me again, and I'll kick your jaws in so hard, your teeth'll come out your _fucking eyes!_ "

Snigglina giggled playfully. _"Sickos?"_ she echoed. "We're called _Sniggles_ , silly!"

Just then, a male Sniggle with dark skin and close-cropped hair much like the Barker's hopped onstage from stage right. "Lord Blinky and Uncle Wiley have arrived!" he declared. "Make way for Lord Blinky and Uncle Wiley!"

The Sniggles gasped, looks of shock and horror gracing their faces. They all scrambled to stage left, dropping to their knees and bowing. Papa Sniggle forced Emma into a bow, much to her muffled protest. Moments later, two figures made their way onstage. One we've seen before. The lumbering, cyclopian form of Bliklotep. But he looked... slightly _different_. His eye... It was _moving_. His eyelid narrowed itself into an irritable squint as his iris and pupil scanned over the crowd. He seemed to notice the camera for a split second, but didn't say anything. The other, though unfamiliar for this web series, I'd seen on TV _plenty_ of times before. A denim-clad old man with a fake brown beard, a sailor's cap, and a wooden tobacco pipe. Uncle Wiley. He hobbled onstage with Blinky following close behind, and the crowd went absolutely _wild_.

 _"Mmm! Mm-mm! Mmmmph!"_ Paul protested, still muffled by his gag.

Emma, still being forced into her bow, looked up at the new arrivals. Uncle Wiley approached, looming over her, and her jaw dropped.

"Well, well, well! If it ain't our perky Miss Perkins!" Uncle Wiley exclaimed in his hokey sailor voice as the audience's cheers calmed down. "So glad to finally make your acquaintance!"

 _"Y-you..."_ Emma stammered meekly, looking up at Uncle Wiley with wide eyes.

The sailor man cackled jovially. "Me indeed!" he said. He then _yanked_ Emma up onto her feet, and forced her to look out into the audience with his arm slung over her shoulders. He turned to acknowledge the crowd as well. "Y'see folks, Emma here and her little pally-wal Paul have been keepin' a _very_ close eye on our Drowsy Town operations! Matter a' fact, Paul's here as our guest of honor!"

Uncle Wiley gestured towards the front row, and a spotlight traveled down the stage and to Paul's seat. Whoever was holding the camera turned to face the still-struggling Paul, who winced as the spotlight fell on him. The crowd applauded once more, and Emma gasped.

_"PAUL!"_

Paul finally managed to shake his gag off. _"EMMA!"_

The spotlight shut off, and the camera's view swiveled back towards the stage. Emma's gaze darted between Paul and the _unbearably_ smug-looking Uncle Wiley, genuine terror in her eyes. The sailor pulled Emma closer to him, roughly squeezing her shoulder.

"Anywho, we here in Drowsy Town don't take kindly to no snoopin' around," he continued on. A devilish smile then spread across his face, and his voice grew deep and gravelly. _"So today we're gonna let Lord Bliklotep decide our lil' Emmy Doll's fate!"_

The crowd _exploded_ into cheers again, and Uncle Wiley forced Emma to look over at Blinky. I could just _barely_ hear her muttering scared protests over the crowd's fading screams as the cyclops approached her. Blinky stepped forward and tilted her head to face him- much like he'd done with Paul in the gift shop, as Uncle Wiley held her firmly in place.

"If Emmy Doll's a _good_ little girl and complies with us," Uncle Wiley began to explain, his voice still in that lower, more menacing pitch. "Then she'll be spared, and granted eternal servitude to our lord and savior Bliklotep."

He leaned in closer to hiss into Emma's ear. "But if she _resists_ ," he added on harshly. "Then little Paulie Pal there in the audience'll be forced to watch as she experiences a slow, _painful_ demise. So don't blink, y'understand?"

 _'Sickos'_ was a very apt way to describe these guys, I thought as Blinky forced Emma's face into place, staring her down with his massive yellow eye. My heart began to race as the theater went dead quiet. The only sounds to be heard were Paul's terrified breaths, and Blinky's odd raspy growl. The atmosphere was tense. Emma stayed still and stoic for some time, defiantly eyeing her captor. But then, her expression grew hollow and fearful. Her breathing began to quicken in pace, growing more and more shaky. She looked like she _desperately_ wanted to look away from the purple beast's bulging eye. For a moment, I could've _sworn_ her eyes flashed purple for a split second. But before I could question whether or not my eyes were playing tricks on me, Emma let out a strained cry and _spat_ in Blinky's eye. The cyclops stumbled back with a _bloodcurdling_ scream, squeezing his eye shut and covering it with his hands. Uncle Wiley released his grip on her, _clearly_ caught off-guard. The Sniggles- who'd been standing back the entire time, gasped and hissed in disgust as they began to circle their captive, and the crowd let out a chorus of boos.

 _"Unworthy brat!"_ Snigglina snarled.

 _"Vile woman!"_ the curly-haired Sniggle growled.

 _"Blasphemer!"_ the Sniggle who'd announced Blinky's arrival bellowed.

Emma looked around at the Sniggles, who were beginning to close in on her. The whole scene was comparable to that of a starving pack of wolves closing in on an injured doe. She appeared to panic for a moment, before looking to the enraged Blinky.

"All hail Lord Bliklotep!" she exclaimed.

Everyone fell silent, looking to Emma in surprise. My heart nearly stopped for a moment.

 _"Emma...?"_ I heard Paul murmur in disbelief beside the camera. He sounded both terrified and _heartbroken_.

 _"Hmmmm~?"_ Blinky hummed in confusion, looking back towards Emma.

"Great Lord Bliklotep, the Watcher with a Thousand Eyes!" Emma continued, projecting her voice for all to hear. She approached the furry cyclops, and dropped to her knees. "I humbly offer myself to you."

 _"You'll obey Blinky?"_ Blinky asked, sounding skeptical.

"I will walk through _fire_ for you, my Lord," Emma assured him. "You, who can see what we mere mortals cannot! You, who will make Hatchetfield into your playground! You, who has _shown me the light!_ "

She looked up at Blinky with an unwavering stare. "Take me now, my King," she said, her tone soft and adoring. "And I shall be your slave until the end of eternity."

Blinky's eye lit up, and he began to giggle ecstatically. _"Hehehehehehehe-HAAAAH~!"_ he chortled, tacking on a raspy croak at the end as he cupped Emma's face in his hands. She leaned into the cyclops's touch, and I just couldn't _believe_ what I was watching. Blinky nodded his head in Uncle Wiley's direction. _"You, untie her hands."_

Still wearing that shit-eating smile, Uncle Wiley stooped down to free Emma's hands. Once he did, Emma pulled them from behind her back, rubbing at her undeniably rope-burned wrists. I could hear Paul choke out a sob as Blinky helped Emma to her feet. God, I couldn't even _imagine_ what must've been going through Paul's head at that moment. Emma lovingly looked up at Blinky once more...

...And then she punched him _dead-center_ in the eye.

The Sniggles and the audience gasped as Blinky stumbled back with a roar once again. Uncle Wiley looked _flabbergasted_. I myself nearly started _cheering_ as Emma hopped down from the stage. The spotlight came down on Paul as Emma rushed to meet him, and the camera turned to face him in turn. Soon enough, Emma finished untying the ropes keeping Paul bound to his seat, all while he stared on in disbelief.

"E-Emma?" he choked out tearfully. "You're-?"

Emma pulled Paul into a loving embrace that he returned after a moment of shock. "I'm still me, babe, I'm still me," she assured him, rubbing her hand up and down his back. "It was the only way I could think of to get them to untie me. Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine... I'm fine..." Paul sputtered, relief seeping it's way into his voice. "Bit of a headache from when they knocked me out, but it's nothing I can't handle. What about you?"

"Shaken and a little scraped up, but I'm just glad you're okay," Emma replied, tightening the embrace. "I love you, Paul."

"I love you too..." Paul whimpered.

It was such a tender moment, that it was almost _jarring_ when the sound of Blinky angrily panting came from off-screen. Breaking the embrace, Paul and Emma looked back at the stage with looks of pure, undiluted _"Oh, shit"_ on their faces. The panting continued for a second, before Blinky broke out into a _furious_ bout of screaming.

 _"You made Blinky cry!"_ the Sniggles began to jeer, snarling and hissing like animals.

"Shit, shit, _shit_ ," Emma said frantically, looking around for something she could use. Her hands fell to the back pocket of her shorts, and she pulled out a phone. She looked down at the screen, and her eyes lit up. "No flash photography, eh?"

"Uh, _Emma?_ " Paul chimed in, warily eyeing the stage as the Sniggles began to creep down into the seating area.

"Hey, Blinky!" Emma called, holding her phone out in front of her as though she was preparing to take a picture. "Say cheese!"

 _Click!_ Emma snapped a picture with the phone's camera, the flash illuminating the area. Blinky and the Sniggles screamed in pain, with the Sniggles visible onscreen covering their eyes. Using their dazed state as an opportunity, Emma grabbed the camera back from whoever had been holding it, covering the lens with the palm of her hand.

"Show's over, folks!" she exclaimed. "Come on, Paul, let's get the hell outta here!"

The video ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly reminder that I uploaded another DT Drabble to my tumblr (@piece-of-caek) a few days ago that takes place between chapters 18 and 19. Not needed to understand the story, but adds some extra context! It's called "Tag! You're It", and you can find it in the "dt drabbles" tag on my tumblr! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!


	21. Bliklotep (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a brief moment of respite from their pursuers, Emma tells Paul what she learned while being held captive in the Drowsy Town Theater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the unannounced break while we're in the middle of an arc, folks, burnout's a real bitch. But hey! Tomorrow I'm gonna be posting another DT Drabble on my tumblr (@piece-of-caek) that takes place _directly_ after the events of this chapter! This one, you _might_ wanna read, because it's gonna contain some extra foreshadowing for stuff that happens later. Also, I _swear_ I'm gonna post the drabbles to ao3 at some point, and I'll be sure to announce it when the time comes.
> 
> **TW: Eye horror**

**_"WARNING: The contents of this video may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised."_ **

After the content warning, the actual video began very abruptly, hard-cutting to what looked to be the interior of a small, brightly-lit indoor area. Paul was in frame, sitting on the floor and leaning up against the wall, panting heavily as though out of breath. I could hear Emma behind the camera, sounding _just_ as winded. I was having trouble pinning down exactly _what_ this location they were in was. There weren't enough objects in frame to really indicate anything, just some tiled flooring and fluorescent lights. Just above Paul's head was what looked to be a counter, with a glimpse of the pink evening sky visible past it. It wasn't until the camera jittered off to the side in Emma's shaky grip that I noticed a soda dispenser propped up against the wall, besides a door with a glowing exit sign hanging overhead. This must've been a snack bar of sorts, but _where_ was the vendor? How'd Paul and Emma get in here to begin with? Emma panned the camera back towards Paul, who was carefully peering over the counter.

"Did we lose them?" she asked between gulps of air.

Paul turned back around, slumping against the wall with a nod as he caught his breath. "I think so..."

"Thank _fucking_ god," Emma huffed, exhausted. She took another moment to steady her breathing before continuing on for the viewing audience. "Alright folks, here's the situation. When we got out of the Drowsy Town Theater, it was already 5-ish PM. We're both... _fucking exhausted_ because we spent like an hour running from Blinky, Uncle Wiley, and the Sniggles, and we haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

"We tried to make a beeline for the park exit, but it'd been blocked off," Paul continued for her, wiping sweat from his forehead. "And what's weirder, it seems like everyone in the park had _vanished_. No employees, no park-goers... No one except for us, and our pursuers."

"Hey, whatever makes it easier for us to get away," Emma tacked on, like she was trying to sound optimistic. "So yeah, now we're hiding in this snack bar near the Tear-Jerker. Dunno how we're gonna get out, we might have to call someone for help."

Paul suddenly reached up and grabbed the back of his head, his eyes squeezed shut as he hissed in pain.

"Whoa, you okay, babe?" Emma asked him, concern in her tone.

" _Ugh_ , yeah..." he replied through clenched teeth. "I think I scraped the back of my head when I was knocked out, and all the heat and running's been giving me a headache."

_"Uh..."_ Emma muttered, surveying the snack bar with the camera. The view landed on what looked to be a freezer, and she scrambled towards it on her knees. "Oh! Maybe if I..."

Emma pried the freezer open, revealing a large mound of ice bags nestled up against each other. Scattered amongst them were several ice cream bars in purple and yellow packaging, proudly labeled with _"BLINKY BAR!"_. One of those character ice cream bars with the gumball eyes that always end up looking super deformed when you unwrap them. Emma pulled an ice bag out of the freezer, and gently tossed it over to Paul.

"Here, this should help for now." she said.

Paul took the bag with a grateful nod, and pressed it to the back of his head. He winced for a moment, before melting into the cold with a sigh, his shoulders going slack. Emma shut the freezer door and shuffled back to her previous position, across from Paul.

"Uh, let's see, what else am I forgetting...?" Emma mused under her breath. "Oh, right! Thankfully, we still have the Blinky doll with us, so we'll still have something for Hidgens to examine if we get outta here in one piece."

There was a brief rustling sound off-screen before Emma held up a plastic shopping bag with the aforementioned doll visible within, it's big yellow eye pointed _right_ at the camera. She set the bag down, revealing Paul looking at her with a befuddled stare.

"Wait, that can't be right..." he remarked, nervously drumming his fingers against the floor. "I-I could've _sworn_ I lost the doll when Madame Iris knocked me out..."

"That might just be the headache talking, hun," Emma suggested softly. "Lie down for a moment, we can afford to rest for a bit."

Paul, though still looking skeptical, complied with Emma's request and slumped over on the ground, laying his head on the ice bag as though it were a pillow. He pressed a hand to his forehead, and glanced over at Emma with tired- yet concerned eyes.

"By the way, uh..." he piped up awkwardly. "Wh-when you were up on stage in the theater, what was Blinky... _doing_ to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, when he was forcing you to look him in the eye," Paul elaborated. "You looked scared. Was he hurting you in some way?"

"N-not... _technically..._ " Emma replied. "As I looked into his eye, I was seeing all these different... scenarios, I guess? Like, moments from my childhood, and stuff like that."

"Then it started getting _weird_ ," she continued hesitantly. "I was seeing these... _terrifying_ and unreal things that felt so _familiar_. Like, in one I was surrounded by all these singing, smiling, blue-eyed people. In another, I was in a parking lot and I could see missiles streaking across the sky. A-and in one..."

Emma's words hitched in her throat, only a shaky gasp escaping her. "I-in one, I saw you plunge a knife into my throat."

Paul's eyes widened in surprise, concern blossoming onto his face. "Wh-why would he show you things like that?" he questioned.

"I dunno, probably to scare me?" Emma answered, her voice still wavering. "I-it was so _vivid_ and lifelike. I'm pretty sure _that's_ when I freaked out and spat in his eye. It's all such a blur..."

"Thank _god_ you managed to trick them into untying you..." Paul sighed, looking shaken and confused. He looked back up at Emma, intrigue in his eyes. "Speaking of, how'd you _do_ that so convincingly?"

Emma snickered weakly. "Guess I'm just an amazing actor," she replied playfully. "Brigadoon 2003, bitch!"

Paul gave a snort of laughter, and I assumed that this was some kinda in-joke they shared. "It _was_ pretty good!" he agreed with a nod. "I mean, I _never_ could've pulled something like that off! I mean, _'Watcher with a Thousand Eyes'?_ You really laid it on thick!"

"Oh, 'Watcher with a Thousand Eyes' was just something I heard one of the Sniggles say backstage." Emma explained nonchalantly.

"Huh..." Paul said. "Yeah, come to think of it, that weird Barker guy said something about 'watching with a thousand eyes' when I was out looking for you. Must be some kinda nickname for Blinky."

"Actually, that reminds me of something _else_ that happened while I was backstage," Emma mused. "I heard one of the Sniggles mention Pokotho."

Paul's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "The Lord in Black with the mask thing on his tablet?"

"The very same," Emma replied. "While one of the Sniggles was forcefully trying to put a mic belt on me, I overheard one of the _other_ Sniggles complaining to the director. I think his name was fuckin'... _Snurt_ , or something?"

Paul chuckled tiredly. "His name was _Snurt?_ " he echoed incredulously.

"Yeah, I don't understand Sniggle naming conventions, and I'm not sure I want to," Emma said. "Anyways, he was complaining about the quote-un-quote _'script'_ of the show, and going on about how the show didn't have any songs in it. He said something like, _'This is what happens when Lord Blinky writes his own shows! If Lord Pokotho wrote the show like he usually does, this wouldn't be an issue!'_."

"Why would Pokotho write shows for Blinky?" Paul muttered in confusion.

"I dunno, maybe he's some kinda Ye Olde God of Musical Theatre or some bullshit like that," Emma replied, her tone half-joking. "The Sniggle _did_ single out a lack of songs as a problem with Blinky's script."

" _'Ye Olde God of Musical Theatre'..._ " Paul repeated, snickering. "Jesus, sounds like something my grandparents on my mom's side of the family would've worshiped. I remember how my grandma would go _on and on_ about how her father- my great-grandpa Wesley Matthews, was this _big_ name at the Starlight Theater in his youth."

Paul's anecdote was suddenly interrupted by a faint beeping sound. For a moment I thought it was coming from my smoke detector, and I nearly took off my headphones to go and check. But then Paul shot up from his spot on the ground, seemingly hearing the noise as well. He looked around with a bewildered expression.

"The hell is that?" he asked.

"Sounds like it's coming from the Blinky doll..." Emma observed.

Emma suddenly gasped as she scrambled to grab the shopping bag containing the overpriced stuffed toy. The camera's view landed on the doll, which Emma had taken out and promptly dropped on the floor. Not only was the repetitive beeping coming from the Blinky doll, but the pupil of it's eye was flashing red as well.

"What the fuck is this!?" Emma exclaimed in bafflement as the doll continued to beep and blink.

"I'm not sure I wanna found out!" Paul sputtered out in reply.

"Uhh, _Paul!_ The car keys, gimme the car keys!"

"Wh- okay?"

Emma frantically gestured over to Paul as he pulled the car keys from the pocket of his khaki shorts and dropped them in her shaking hand. She fumbled with them for a moment, before maneuvering the end of one key in between her fingers. With a grunt, Emma _stabbed_ the pointed end of the key into the Blinky doll's pupil. As she pulled it out, the beeping slowed to a stop and the flashing ceased. Tiny tufts of stuffing poked out of the doll's _"wound"_ as Emma tossed the keys back to Paul. The couple took a moment to calm down before speaking up again.

"Wh-what the hell just-?" Paul began to say.

But before Paul could finish his sentence, a familiar yellow eye reared over the counter of the snack bar, peering down at the couple maliciously. Paul and Emma screamed in fright as Blinky poked his massive head inside, giggling fiendishly. His eye was lit up by a golden glow, not unlike the kind Tinky had used to make his presence known several videos back.

_"PEEKABOO~! BLINKY SEES YOU~!"_ the cyclops bellowed as he _slammed_ his hands down on the counter of the snack bar.

"Not for long!"

Thinking quickly, Paul grabbed the ice bag he'd been using as a makeshift painkiller/pillow for the last several minutes and stood to his feet, with Emma following close behind. Without giving their pursuer any time to react, Paul _swung_ the bag of ice at Blinky, beaming him directly in the eye with it. Blinky squeezed his eye shut, stumbling back in a daze with a gurgling, pained roar. Paul dropped the ice bag, looking down at his hands like he couldn't _believe_ what he'd just done.

"Nice shot, babe!" Emma exclaimed, surprised.

"Uh... thanks!" Paul chuckled.

"Now hurry, get to the door while he's dizzy!"

The couple scrambled for the door, rushing out into the sunset-washed theme park. Just as they'd said earlier, there was no one else around. They took off running towards a massive wooden rollercoaster in the distance. It was surrounded by a chain-link fence, and dozens of tiny lightbulbs lined each side of the track. Though there wasn't a sign in sight, I could _immediately_ tell what ride this was. The much-hyped Tear-Jerker, supposedly the tallest rollercoaster in the whole American Midwest. I'll admit, I don't know much about theme parks, but for some reason I could've _sworn_ that title was held by a different coaster.

As Paul and Emma dashed in the direction of the wooden behemoth, I could hear Blinky stomping after them, screaming a shrill, croaking shriek. Emma made _no_ effort to keep the camera steady as she ran, but I could still make out the light from the cyclops's glowing eye illuminating the path ahead like a car's headlights, casting Paul and Emma's shadows on the ground in front of them.

_"You can't run forever, Emmy Doll~!"_ Blinky taunted them, the sounds of his heavy footsteps growing closer by the second. _"Blinky's gonna catch you eventually~!"_

Soon enough, the pair reached the fence that separated the public from the cluttered wooden support system of the Tear-Jerker. For a moment, I expected them to maybe dash left at the last second, tricking Blinky into running head-first into the fence and buying them a little time. But much to my surprise, Emma lightly _tossed_ the camera over the fence, and it landed in the grass on the other side. The view was pointed away from the fence, but I could still hear Emma speak up.

"Here's hoping that didn't fucking shatter it," she quipped. "Gimme a boost, Paul!"

I could hear the couple grunt with effort, combined with the sounds of the fence shaking. Blinky's maniacal giggling was growing louder. But soon enough, the camera was lifted from it's spot on the ground, and panned around to show Paul hopping down over the fence and into the enclosed area. The two ran further under the wooden support of the coaster's first (and seemingly tallest) hill as Blinky came to a stop at the fence, down on all fours like an animal. The cyclops appeared to ponder the fence for a moment before rearing back up on his hind legs and grabbing the section Paul and Emma had scaled seconds prior. He pried the section from it's place, creating a large hole in the fence where it had once been, and tossing it aside like it was nothing. Emma gasped as Blinky slowly lumbered over to her and Paul.

"Babe, you remember how I said the Tear-Jerker was super rickety and unstable when I rode it all those years ago?" she asked Paul quickly, swiveling the camera's view over to him.

"Sounds familiar, yeah?" Paul replied as his gaze darted between Emma and the approaching monster.

"Let's see how true that statement still is!" Emma said. She began to back away from Paul, and pointed the camera at Blinky. "Oh, _your Eminence~?_ "

The cyclops turned to face her, his eye squinted in rage. _"You've been a very naughty girl, Emmy Doll,"_ he growled, ducking under the supports overhead so he could advance towards her. Paul looked over at Emma with a 'what the fuck are you doing!?' kinda look on his face. _"You tricked Blinky..."_

"I sure did!" Emma agreed, surprisingly chipper. "And I'd do it again just to see you throw another hissy fit!"

Blinky huffed indignantly, shaking his wide head. _"Blinky could snap you like a twig, Emmy Doll,"_ he snarled, growing more enraged. _"It'd be so easy..."_

"Then why don't you do it, O Mighty One?" Emma egged him on. "Or you just as much of a court jester as your big brothers?"

With a furious roar, Blinky swung his fist out to hit Emma, but she _narrowly_ dodged out of the way. I heard a deafening _CRACK!_ , like that of splintering wood. Emma panned the camera over to Blinky, showing that his fist had connected with a wooden beam that Emma had been standing up against moments prior, cracking it effortlessly. If I understood this plan correctly, then it was _just_ insane enough to work. Paul seemed to catch on, his gaze flitting over to Emma before he chimed in with a contribution of his own.

"What, you can't even hit someone standing _right in front of you_ , Blinky?" Paul taunted the cyclops, catching his attention. "You really _are_ the least threatening brother we've faced so far!"

With another roar, Blinky swung his arm at Paul, who ducked out of the way. Once again, Blinky's fist broke through a support beam. Emma gave a phony-sounding laugh.

"Poor Blinky can't even catch two human beings who're exhausted from running around all day!" she continued to prod. "It's sad, really."

Things went on like that for a while. Paul or Emma provoke Blinky, he gets mad and tries to grab or swat at them, only to miss and land a blow on the Tear-Jerker's support system. The couple had circled him, even managing to get him to break two supports at once a few times. Splinters flew into Blinky's eye, which only seemed to anger him further. Thus, making his swings more reckless, and less likely to hit his _actual_ targets. After Emma had hit him with a _particularly_ biting remark and baited him into hitting a _particularly_ thick beam, a loud creaking sound came from overhead, and Blinky looked wide-eyed at the top of the hill. Emma pointed the camera at Paul.

"Alright! Support system's still shit!" she exclaimed. "Let's get outta here!"

Paul smiled, looking as though he was _shaking_ from adrenaline. "Great idea, babe!"

The pair hurried out from under the coaster's collapsing lift hill, using the hole in the fence Blinky had made earlier as a convenient escape route. Emma panned the camera around to face the soon-to-be carnage, showing Blinky looking upwards at the swaying structure with dread.

_"Uh-oh..."_ he muttered.

And just like that, the hill caved in on itself with a series of ear-shattering creaks and crashes, coming down _directly_ on the cyclops's head. Within _seconds_ , the lift hill of the _former_ tallest rollercoaster in the Midwest had been demolished, and was now a pile of timber and twisted metal. Paul and Emma gave a sigh of mutual relief as the dust of the crash settled.

"Ready to go home, Em?" Paul huffed with a casual tone that could've only been caused by pure _exhaustion_.

"As I'll ever be..." Emma complied, a disbelieving laugh sneaking into her voice.

The video cut ahead, and the couple were now back out in the same parking lot that they'd been in when the day began. The lot looked just as empty as the rest of the park had been throughout this video, though Paul and Emma's car still remained. The sun had set some more, with the woods surrounding the lot blocking out most of the light. Emma pointed the car back at Paul.

"Okay, _thankfully_ we managed to save the stabbed Blinky doll," she began, her voice hoarse and worn-out. "So we've got the spoils of our war to be analyzed tomorrow."

"Can you _imagine_ if we'd forgotten it back in the snack bar?" Paul chuckled as he stopped at the car's driver seat, shaking his head. "God, Hidgens would be so _pissed_ at us!"

But just as Emma was about to respond, a familiar blood-curdling shriek came from behind them. With a gasp, Emma whirled the camera around to reveal none other than _Blinky_ , standing in the park's main entrance. Large beams of wood were sticking out of his body, and the pupil of his glowing eye had contracted so much that it was barely _visible_ from this distance. He wasn't done, and he was _pissed_. Blinky began to charge into the lot and towards the couple with incredible speed, screaming bloody murder. Emma quickly panned the camera towards Paul, who was watching on in disbelief.

_"Paul, car keys, NOW!"_ she demanded, holding out her free hand.

Without missing a beat, Paul retrieved he car keys and tossed them over to the other side of the car and into Emma's hand. Emma turned back around to face Blinky, who was only a few feet away now.

"Turn around, bright eyes!"

Just as Blinky reached her, Emma _thrusted_ the tip of one of the keys forward, puncturing the pupil of Blinky's eye and stopping him in his tracks. The cyclops gave a few choked-out gasps before Emma twisted the key, like she was turning a knife. A few seconds passed, the golden glow of Blinky's eye intensifying into a blinding white. Emma roughly _yanked_ the key out, and a spurt of a thick, purple liquid soon followed. And another. And another. Soon, the unidentified purple substance had begun to gush and trickle out of Blinky's eye, and he wailed in agony. Emma frantically tossed the car keys back to Paul and scrambled into the passenger seat. Paul followed suit, climbing into the driver's seat and shaking the remaining purple ooze off the keys before starting the car. Within seconds, the two were driving off, whooping and cheering ecstatically as they left Blinky to bleed out (???) in the parking lot.

_"We did it, Paul!"_ Emma hollered with glee, pointing the camera at the equally-excited Paul.

_"Yeah, we did!"_ Paul agreed with a delighted laugh. He briefly turned around, taking one hand off the steering wheel to flip off the park that they'd just escaped from. _"FUCK YOU, WATCHER WORLD!"_

_"HELL YEAH, MAN!"_ Emma cheered. She briefly paused her celebration to wipe some residual purple goo from her hands. "God, 'not as dangerous as Action Park', my _ASS!_ "

"Oh, look who's the geek _now_ , Perkins!" Paul teased.

Emma giggled, the giddiness evident in her voice. "It's still you, Matthews!" she retorted playfully, pointing the camera back up at the smiling face of her boyfriend. "You're a goddamn geek, but you're _my_ goddamn geek!"

Paul snickered, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "God, I love you so much, Emma..." he mused softly with a sigh.

"Love you too, babe." Emma said, taking on a soft tone of her own.

The video ended, and I decided that _now_ was a good time for another break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Comments, as always, are _very much_ appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this first "video"! Comments are _very much_ appreciated.


End file.
